In this episode we learn about the friendship between a lowly horse vet Yi Myunghwan and the aristocrat Kang Dojun. They have one thing in common – they both want to be herbal doctors and they enter the prestigious school in the capital. But their friendship is doomed and ends in tragedy.
The opening scene shows Doctor Yi Myunghwan, looking exhausted and distraught, collapsing in (what looks like) a desert. (this scene was actually filmed on a sandy beach on Daecheong island, Incheon. But I think the desert vibe makes the scene more dramatic) Something terrible must have happened as royal guards rush to a family home and a guard raises his sword to kill the new born baby clutched by a nurse. But whose home is this and whose baby? We’ll know by the end of the episode.
Horse Doctor (MBC 2012) Yi Myunghwan feels guilty over his friend’s death
But first we must jump back in time to when Kang Dojun and Yi Myunghwan first meet. Dojun is visiting a horse ranch in the country because he’s interested to learn how the elderly vet cares for the horses. Suddenly out in the field a horse bolts and ends up charging right for Dojun. His life is in danger, but just in time Yi Myunghwan leaps to his rescue and pulls him out of the horse’s way. Then he jumps on the horse and calms him down. Dojun is impressed, but the elderly vet merely tells Myunghwan off for going near the horses.
Oh boy, now we get a nice close up of huge acupuncture needles being pressed deep into the horse’s skin – with sound effects too, yikes. And if that’s not bad enough, the vet then shoves a piece of bamboo with some smoking moxa up the horse’s bum to get a stool sample. (I’m feeling quite faint right now especially with more squidgy squelchy sound effects ..)
The gruff, old vet is Myunghwan’s dad. And he wants him to stay away from the horses because he has higher dreams for his son than being a lowly vet – he wants him to be a ‘proper’ doctor. In fact, he’s invited a respected doctor to come and meet his son in the hope that he will invite him to join his famous pharmacy school in the capital. Myunghwan has studied medicine by himself but the visitor seems unimpressed until Myunghwan suddenly diagnoses what is wrong with the patient the doctor has brought with him – even without taking his pulse. This wins over the doctor and Myunghwan is accepted as his student. His father is delighted but harsh – he tells him to forget about his family and humble background because he is destined for great things.
And so Myunghwan begins his new life at the pharmacy. He soon becomes aware that his background as a horse doctor is looked down on. Myunghwan is a keen student and tries to sneak into the library to get a look at some rare medical books. And here he bumps into Dojun again and together they sneak into the library.
Myunghwan is shocked to discover that Dongjun is a yangban, aristocrat. (the aristocracy usually become scholars not lowly herbalists!) He is embarrassed to introduce himself as a low grade pharmacist and horse vet. Despite their different social ranks they are to become good friends. Now they eagerly look through the rare books that are usually only accessible to the higher doctors. But they are not the only ones sneaking into the library. They hide and admire the skills of a nurse who enters the library to practise placing acupuncture needles into a dummy. (women couldn’t become doctors at the time) But then they are all disturbed again and hide together when another doctor and a high official arrive. The pair hurry out with a book on heated needles. But although they have the right to be here, the sneaking around at night suggests that they are up to no good.
With palace guards everywhere it’s difficult for the two lowly herbalists and nurse to get out of the library without being seen. But Dojun has an idea to create a diversion – he suggests they set fire to their moxa (?? dum-suk) -since it’s very smoky and so when the guards see the smoke they’ll panic thinking there’s a big fire in the library. Sure enough the guards rush to get buckets of water but then are surprised to see that there is no fire after all – just smoking moxa! But by now the herbalists and the nurse are nowhere to be seen!
Meanwhile, the Queen is scheming with the high official – they don’t want the crown prince to return to the capital from China.
Historical note: Crown Prince Sohyeon was the son of King Injo (1623-1649) but they had different views on how to rule. The Prince returned to Joseon after being held in China for political reasons, but he was soon found dead in the king’s quarters. There is still a mystery behind his death. Later the king’s second son who was also being held in China returned to become King Hyojong r.1649-1659) see chart of Joseon Kings and related sageuk dramas
Back to the story. At least the commoners are happy to see the Crown Prince return from China and line the streets to greet him. Dojun takes his heavily pregnant wife to pay their respects too. He thinks back to the time the Prince rewarded him for helping the royal family with his acupuncture techniques and encouraged him to become a doctor instead of a scholar. Dojun now wants to realise his dream – he wants to help the poor who can’t afford doctors, not the wealthy yangban. So he sets up his own hospital.
But while the crowds welcome the prince, the doctor hired by the queen is out abducting commoners to practise his evil art on. With only two heated needles put in the right pressure point the doctor confirms that he can kill a man without leaving any proof of his guilt. He has abducted two victims but unfortunately for him, the second one manages to escape after he witnesses the first victim die. Worriedly, the doctor orders the guards to find him as he has seen everything …
Dojun receives a letter from Myunghwan saying the prince is very sick. Dojun hurries back to the palace to help the prince. And as he crosses the river on a boat he happens to meet the poor man who escaped from the queen’s doctor. The man is with his heavily pregnant wife who seems in discomfort. Dojun wants to help her but her husband is antsy because he knows the police are after him. There are guards with wanted posters for him everywhere. When they get off the boat the guards ask to see his ID but luckily Dojun butts in to give him some medicine for his wife. This distracts the guards who are confused to see this poor man with a yangban.
Dojun hears from Myunghwan that a doctor that the queen recommended is looking after the prince. They say he has malaria. This bothers Dojun – there is no reason for the prince to have malaria. He is sure that they are plotting to harm the prince but Myunghwan is frightened to talk about it. And there is no evidence to confirm his suspicions – except that the doctor was looking for a book in the library…
Later in the market place Dojun saves the poor man again after they are turned away from a doctor. The queen’s doctor happens to see him in the street and he follows him. (OK now this is all getting a bit too much of a coincidence ...) Dojun steps in to help the poor couple again! The doctor is sent off in the wrong direction. Dojun agrees to try to help the poor couple but it is too late. His wife is going to die. But he agrees to try and save the baby. He delivers a baby girl. The poor man tells Dojun that he saw the doctor kill a man with a needle and this confirms Dojun’s suspicions that the prince’s life is in danger.
Dojun sneaks in to the palace to see the prince, although Myunghwan tries to persuade him not to go – it’s dangerous and he’ll be killed if they find him there. The prince tell him to leave quickly. The queen’s doctor will be coming soon to treat him. Meanwhile Myunghwan sneaks in to check the doctor’s needles and realises that they have been POISONED. But he gets caught and taken to the high official. He is given an ultimatum – he must give up his friend if he wants to live.
The chilling truth is that is it the king who wants the crown prince dead. Myunghwan is terrified to hear this. He realises that there is nothing he can do to save his friend. Dojun will be executed no matter what. He can only save himself now – so he does what the doctor tells him to do. But it doesn’t stop him being filled with guilt. Dojun is arrested for treason and killed. And while his wife gives birth to their baby the royal guards are on their way. If she gives birth to a boy, the baby will immediately be killed …
Aha so there’s a twist at the end here. Is the baby the nurse is holding the baby boy that Dojun’s wife just gave birth to? If so he will surely be murdered by the guards. Or has he somehow been swapped with the baby girl that Dojun just helped deliver for the poor couple? In which case the baby will probably be saved. My money is on the second option. Otherwise what was the point of this episode!
So we’ve had an action-packed first episode. The two scenes that stay in my mind both involve acupuncture needles. First, the scene where Myunghwan’s father treats the horses with needles and then with moxa. Yikes, hopefully that is the end of any of these close ups! The second scene involves the queen’s doctor outside in his den. He is brutal in the way he kills his victim – the murder is over in an instant and the poor man’s body removed like rubbish. It shows how a poor man’s life was meaningless. The doctor is SO cold-hearted, but now we know that he is working for the king, his actions are more understandable – after all, his life will be on the line if he doesn’t succeed in this assassination.
In episode 2 of Horse Doctor (MBC 2012) we catch up with the characters 12 years later. Myunghwan has worked his way up at the pharmacy but he has also become tough and pretty scary – prepared to do anything to save his own skin. (and he started off so well) Dojun’s son is a feisty young boy bored with living on a small island and desperate to go to the big city. And when he finally arrives there who should he bump in to but a young girl about his age. Who could she possibly be? But together they witness a heinous crime.
The guard raises his sword and is just about to kill Dojun’s baby son when Seokgu rushes forward announcing that ‘the baby is a girl’. (I knew it! He switched the babies) Everyone is surprised to hear this – even the nurse! (Even though the baby boy hardly has any hair but the girl has a handsome head of dark hair?) So Seokgu has sacrificed his daughter to protect Dojun’s son. His daughter is to be taken in at Yangju government office.
Horse Doctor (MBC 2012) Dojun’s son is saved from the royal guards
The nurse, Inju, says goodbye to Myunghwan. After all that’s happened she can’t stay around. Myunghwan can’t even look at her and makes an excuse not to see her off. She’s devastated the three of them were so close but have now been broken apart. Myunghwan seems to feel terribly guilty about what’s happened.
Inju says good bye as Seokgu leaves the capital with Dojun’s son.
12 years later. Dojun’s son Kwanghyun and his friends play on the island where they live. He has a strong character and is the ring leader of the gang. With his friends he has built a raft and plans to sail to the capital. The man he thinks is his father clearly has trouble controlling the boy and he is ready to beat him for not studying and trying to go to the capital when he knows it’s forbidden. But Kwanghyun doesn’t understand why he’s not allowed to leave the island. (Look, just do what you’re told Kwanghyun.)
12-year-old Kwanghyun is bored on the island
A local government officer on the island shows Seokgu a recent wanted poster sent from the capital. (So they are STILL looking for him.) The official has realised that it’s him. (Hmm. Really? He could recognise him from this hand drawn sketch done twelve years ago?) Luckily the official is on his side since he saved his life in the past and promises not to hand him over to the authorities. So he’s got a lucky break for now.
Meanwhile Kwanghyun bumps into his teacher who is drunk. He’s not a very good teacher though as he’s supposed to be teaching the boy Chinese characters but he doesn’t even know them himself! But Kwanghyun is happy to cover for the teacher so that he doesn’t have to study.
Myunghwan is shocked to discover they are investigating the death of the king’s brother
At the pharmacy school Myunghwan has reached a high position. He seems to be a kind and considerate leader, and a lot more confident than he was before. When he goes to treat the King – King Hyojong – he speaks his mind with him, reprimanding the king for not looking after his own health. But he is thrown off guard when the king suddenly mentions the death of his brother 12 years ago and wants to see Dojun, the doctor who treated him.
King Hyojong wants to reopen the case over the death of his brother
Historical note: King Hyojong (r.1649-1659) was the second son of King Injo (1623-1649) (see my chart of Joseon kings and sageuk dramas) but he became king after his elder brother mysteriously died in the palace. He was held in China for political reasons with his brother before returning to take the throne. His brother’s death remains a mystery.
Things get more tricky for Myunghwan when Doctor Yi Hyongik, the man hired to assassinate the crown prince, turns up. Myunghwan doesn’t want to be associated with him. (I don’t blame him) And we can see a shift in power here as the doctor seems weak and vulnerable now that King Injo and the queen are dead and can’t protect him. (He should have thought of that before, shouldn’t he?) It is Myunhwan who is the stronger one now. He assures the doctor that if they don’t say anything then no one will ever find out what really happened to the crown prince. (Oh Myunghwan, you seemed like such a good man at the beginning..) There is just one problem: the one witness who saw the doctor kill a man with his needles is still alive somewhere and so he must be found …
Myunghwan is unhappy to see the doctor who made him assassinate the prince
Back on the island Kwanghyun is upset that his father wants to move again. He doesn’t understand why they live on the island and why his father is so intent on him studying medicine of all things. He clearly has not been told anything about his past. So he decides to go to the capital with his ‘teacher’. But his teacher has no ID badge (or can’t use it since he is in exile) and so tells Kwanghyun to bring his father’s ID badge for inspection to get on the boat. OH NO. I sense trouble ahead.
The boat sails for the capital
But with some luck Kwanghyun and his ‘teacher’ manage to get on the boat with the ID badge even though they raise suspicion when there is no record of Kwanghyun’s father’s ID in the books.
Kwanghyun leaves the island leaving his father in a panic
Kwanghyun is excited to be in the capital. But he’s naive and he soon becomes the target of a gang of child thieves- he thinks they are his friends but they steal his bag and money. But the children feel bad that they have left him with nothing since he was nice to them and gave them food. The head of the gang is a young girl around Kwanghyun’s age.
Kwanghyun thinks he has made a friend in the capital
At the palace Myunghwan is nervous when he is called to answer questions about the death of the crown prince. It’s not looking good for Myunghwan because the palace has discovered that he was close to Dojun. And then Yi Hyongik betrays him by presenting the investigation with ‘proof’ of Myunghwan’s guilt. (Myunghwan did the wrong thing but this guy really is a piece of work.) A flashback shows that Myunghwan was forced to administer the heated lethal needles to the prince all those years ago …
Doctor Yi Hyungik is attacked and captured in the dead of night. Meanwhile, with no money, Kwanghyun and his teacher are left in the rain all night without a room. But Kwanghyun is determined to get the money back that the gang of thieves stole from him. The next day he goes to the port and plays the same trick on the country bumkins arriving in the capital. (He’s a fast learner – he’s only been here a day himself!) Finally he bumps into the kids who stole from him and demands his stuff back but they haven’t got it – it’s been taken by a gang of men. So Kwanghyun demands to be taken to the thieves’ den.
So they go to the gang’s den and find his stuff but there is also a mysterious sack in the room that keeps moving (there is obviously a person under that sacking!) The children hear someone coming so they hide in the room. A solemn and quite creepy Myunghwan appears with his guard and they uncover the sack – to reveal the doctor gagged underneath.
For a moment it seemed as though the doctor had managed to frame Myunghwan but now we see that the power is clearly on Myunghwan’s side. Losing his friend and contact with the nurse has toughened him up. He can’t afford to let the doctor live and so he ruthlessly kills him with two needles – the same way that the doctor killed his poor victim in the den. (I can’t feel sorry for the doctor. He showed no pity for the innocent man he abducted and killed. And yet he still begs for his own life now. It’s poetic justice that he should die the same way that he killed others and that his killer ignores his own pleas for pity.)
Myunghwan must be thinking that now at last he is safe with the doctor dead. But the two kids are hiding in the den and they watch this scene in horror. They follow Myunghwan and the guard to the river where the body of the doctor is unceremoniously thrown in. But just as the lifeless body dives towards the water, the little girl screams loudly drawing attention to them…. Myunghwan realises that someone has seen what he has done and he can’t afford to have any witnesses…
So Myunghwan who at the start of episode 1 was on his way to becoming a hero with big dreams of saving lives as a good doctor has now become the villain. And a powerful villain too with a high rank at the pharmacy and some serious skills with needles! I’m sensing a lot of sinister scenes ahead.
In a way I feel sorry for him since he was forced into assassinating the crown prince. And so this is not the life he wanted for himself. It is his fate and he can’t go back now, so how many more victims will he have to kill to keep his secret?
This was a gripping episode – every time it looks like it’s all going to be all right, Myunghwan steps in and messes it all up. Of course deep down we know it can’t be all right yet – because this is only episode 3. The king exonerates Dojun from the murder of the crown prince, so Dojun’s title and reputation are restored. This means his poor son Kwanghyun can now claim his rightful position as an aristocrat, yangban. Right? If only things were that simple…
The kids, Kwanghyun and Yongdal, run away from the river chased by Myunghwan’s men. Trapped, they have to jump in the water to hide but Yongdal loses consciousness and starts drowning. Kwanghyun is a strong swimmer (growing up on an island) and saves her and tries to give her the kiss of life. (this was cute, but I don’t think there was much air getting into her lungs with that technique!) She’s OK and at this point Kwanghyun finally realises that Yongdal is really a girl.
Meanwhile, Myunghwan realises that the kids have seen everything. But he decides not to worry since there’s nothing they can do about it. And he’s right. They try to report the murder at the police station but they are thrown out for telling lies – after all, how could anyone be killed with just one small acupuncture needle? Kwanghyun wants to go back to the police but Yongdal knows her face is on wanted posters and she’s worried that the police will recognise her as a runaway girl slave – that’s why she dresses like a boy.
Horse Doctor MBC 2012 Myunghwan realises the kids have seen everything
Myunghwan returns to his post at the pharmacy but he’s called to see the official Jung Sung Jo. He’s nervous as talk turns to the murder of the crown price again. But Myunghwan has found an ally. Jung Sung Jo has realised that it is politically beneficial for him if he follows Myunghwan’s plan and tries to restore Dojun’s family’s reputation and have him exonerated of the murder.
But Myunghwan’s men are still searching for the children and they manage to capture Yongdal and then a dark figure in the shadows holding a glistening knife gets ready to pounce on Kwanghyun. But just in time his father, Baek Suk Gu, shows up. Kwanghyun is shocked to see him there and then worried that his father will be angry with him for running away and disobeying him. But Suk Gu is just relieved that he’s ok and grabs him in an emotional embrace.
Kwanghyun tells his father everything about the mysterious needle murder he just witnessed, but unlike the other adults, Suk Gu doesn’t laugh at him – he has seen with his own eyes that it’s possible to kill a man with an acupuncture needle.
To Myunghwan’s delight, the King officially pardons Dojun’s family. They have discovered that Dojun has a daughter and so his title and assets will be given to her. (This is not looking good for Kwanghyun after all) They just have to find her. Myunghwan promises to find and protect the child until she grows up, but he has no idea that he knows exactly where she is – captured and tied up by his own men! oh the irony.
Kwanghyun knows he must return to the island so he goes to say good bye to his friend Yongdal and give her a present – a new pair of sandals. But he has no idea that she is tied up in a barn and crying for help. He finally realises there’s a problem when her gang tells him she’s disappeared.
Seokgu is getting ready to return to the island when he hears the news that Dojun’s title has been restored. He’s overjoyed. This means everything is going to be all right – all he needs to do is find Kwanghyun and take him to the police and tell them everything. He believes that since Dojun has been exonerated, he can tell the police what he saw in the cave – and who really killed the crown prince 12 years ago. And Kwanghyun can claim his title as a yangban. Simple.
Meanwhile, Kwanghyun and the gang sneak over to the den where Yongdal is being held captive. They devise a cunning plan to help her escape and plan to set the hut on fire as a distraction while they make a getaway. The plan works and they congratulate themselves as they run up into the mountains.
But not so fast, while they are busy ‘high fiving’ each other, one of the baddies steps out of nowhere. He moves towards them menacingly and draws his sword. There’s no getting away now, the kids back up slowly. This is it. This is the end. The baddie raises his sword in the air ready to strike, when (again out of nowhere) Seokgu appears just in time and hits him over the head with a rock. (Phew that was close!)
Things aren’t going all that well for Myunghwan either. He hears the dreaded news that Baek Seokgu is back in the capital. This is a major problem for Myunghwan – Seokgu witnessed the doctor murder a man with the heated needle technique – He CANNOT be allowed to get away this time. He must be killed. (Myunghwan how can you live with yourself?)
Seokgu naively asked Kwanghyun’s teacher to go to the police and pass on his message about the murders. After all, once they know the truth, they will arrest the baddies, won’t they? Of course not. But it doesn’t help that the teacher is not very convincing telling his story (surprise surprise, did Seokgu really expect anyone to take this guy seriously.) Off course the guards don’t believe him.
Seokgu tells Kwanghyun that everything is going to be all right now. (You poor, innocent fool) They are going to live happily in the capital. As he speaks, lots of guards arrive but Seokgu believes they have arrived to help them. (I feel so bad for him. Even after all these years he believes that justice will prevail. He’s so naive. Bless.)
But the guards have come to arrest him as a traitor … Nooooooo, Not again! Seokgu doesn’t understand what’s going on, why is he a traitor, he wonders? But there’s no time to ask questions so he and the two children run away as fast as they can up into the mountains. But how can they stand a chance against all these guards? The guards begin to gain on them and line up to take aim at the fugitives with their bows and arrows.
Seokgu is helping Yongdal over the rocks (although he doesn’t realise that he is helping his own daughter) when an arrow comes straight for them and goes into his chest. Seriously injured he shouts at the kids to keep running.
The fugitives take refuge in a cave but Seokgu is badly hurt. Kwanghyun runs off to the mountain to find medicinal herbs trying to remember what he learnt about medicine – unfortunately he wasn’t a good student. Yongdal is blaming herself and Seokgu comforts her. He seems to recognise her and asks her again if she ran away from the government office. He wants to know if she could be his daughter but she doesn’t want to answer worried he will realise she is a runaway slave.
In the end the kids have to go and find a doctor but they have to leave Seokgu in the cave alone. He’s sure that he’s going to die and lies in the darkness thinking about his pathetic life. But at least he has seen his daughter and this gives him a little comfort. He writes his final words with his blood-soaked finger on a rock.
Meanwhile, the kids arrive at the doctor’s. (I have no idea how they can find their way around the mountains especially in the dark.) They beg him to help them. He seems kind and agrees disappearing to get ready. But he’s gone a long time – oh no. Can they ever get a break? They realise that he’s betrayed them and the police are on their way. So Kwanghyun hastily grabs a bunch of medicine before they escape. Yongdal gives herself up as bait for the guards so that at least Kwanghyun can escape and help his dying father. Kwanghyun promises to come and find her as soon as he can.
It seems that the game is up and Yongdal is finally in the hands of the enemy Myunghwan. But her luck is about to change. One of the guards recognises her from the wanted posters. They realise that she is the girl they have all been looking for. They believe she is Dojun’s daughter and so now an aristocrat.
Myunghwan is genuinely delighted that they have found his friend’s child – Kang Jinyung. But wait a minute, this is the child who just witnessed him kill someone. Doesn’t this put him in a difficult position? He wants to kill all the witnesses to his crime. But he can’t kill her – he promised to protect her. And even Myunghwan has a conscience when it comes to his friend Dojun. So what is he going to do about this?
Meanwhile, Kwanghyun runs back to the cave. (How on earth did he find his way back?) But his father is lying lifeless on the ground…
In this episode both Kwanghyun’s and his friend Yongdal’s fortunes change dramatically. He is saved from the brink of death to make a new life as a slave on a horse ranch. Meanwhile Yongdal – now known by her real name Ji Nyung – gets used to her new position as an aristocrat. The two friends have been separated into opposite ends of the social classes but they never forget each other and are destined to meet again soon – but in terrible circumstances.
Kwanghyun returns to the cave with medicine from the doctor’s and tries to wake his father. But it’s too late. He notices the name Kang Dojun written in blood on the rock and has no idea who this person is. But there’s nothing he can do about it now as the guards are still searching for them. Distraught, he has to leave his father in the cave but promises to come back for him later. As he runs away the guards spot him and give chase.
Horse Doctor (MBC 2000) Kwanghyun hugs his father’s lifeless body
Ji Nyung is told by Myunghwan that she comes from an aristocratic family. But she is more concerned about helping her friend Kwanghyun who she knows is in danger. So Myunghwan’s guard promises to help Kwanghyun if she tells him where he is. (Don’t do it, Ji Nyung!) She is too trusting and eagerly tells him. But after looking her straight in the eye and promising to help Kwanghyun, the guard rides off to find him and KILL him. (grrr)
Kwanghyun is running away from the guards but ends up trapped on the edge of a cliff. The guards surround him ready to arrest him, but as they get closer a sniper in the distance fires an arrow straight into Kwanghyun’s chest. The guards look around in horror as arrows keep coming until Kwanghyun loses his balance and falls off the cliff and down into the water below. Nobody believes that he could survive a fall like that …
Ji Nyung is distraught when she hears the news. Her friend is dead. The servants want her to throw away all her possessions from her old life – like the sandal that Kwanghyun gave her (as only servants wear shoes like that). But she is desperate to keep it. She blames herself for his death and wants to know who killed him. Oh if she only knew …
Kwanghyun sinks down into the water with an arrow in his chest
Now we change to a new scene at a horse ranch where there’s quite a commotion when the workers find the body of a boy at the bottom of a barrow of hay. He looks badly injured and possibly dead. The master of the ranch wants to get rid of the boy – they don’t have money for a doctor. But the vet takes charge of him.
So Kwanghyun is put in a stable with a sick horse. The vet doesn’t think either of them will last the night but in the morning to his surprise the boy and the horse seem better. In his sleep Kwanghyun sees a vision of Dojun who promises to save him. And it seems that during the night someone treats Kwanghyun’s arrow wound with herbs and acupuncture. The horse gets up in the night and licks Kwanghyun’s face – (what a good actor that horse is) – looks like the horse and boy are bonding.
Kwanghyun regains consciousness. The master of the ranch has decided to take him on as a servant rather than report him to the authorities – his arrow wound suggests that he could be a criminal. Meanwhile in stark contrast Ji Nyung gets her new hanbok and is taken in a palanquin to her new home. She is upset because she can’t even say good bye to her friends but she is told that they have been well taken care of. (Yeah right.)
Enter a familiar face – Jang Injoo, the nurse is back in the capital. Now she is the ONLY ONE who knows that the babies were switched at birth. Jang Injoo has heard the good news about Dojun but she’s shocked to discover that Suk Gu’s daughter will inherit Dojun’s fortune. She wants to put this right and find the boy. So even when she hears what happened at the cliff she refuses to give up looking for Kwanghyun since his body was never found.
Kwanghyun has fully recovered on the horse ranch but he keeps trying to escape – he wants to keep his promise to his friend – but the master won’t let him go. He catches him and has him beaten. Kwanghyun is a slave now and has to sleep in the stable but he is starting to show a natural gift with the horses.
This episode is all about showing the contrast in the new change of fortunes for the two friends. Ji Nyung is now living in finery at Myunghwan’s house with his family. All seems well but she hasn’t forgotten about Kwanghyun and sneaks out of the house at night to hand out a missing poster. So she’s still looking for him.
Kwanghyun is working late at the ranch when he notices that there’s something wrong with one of the horses. Although it’s late he tells the vet and they go out and take a look. He was right, it’s serious and the horse needs treating right away. The vet tells Kwanghyun to help him while he cuts into the infected area and squeezes out the yellow puss (OMG look away at this point if you have a sensitive disposition - this scene is absolutely gross). Then the vet sews up the wound. The horse will be all right and the vet has realised that Kwanghyun has a talent – perhaps it’s his fate to become a vet? But Kwanghyun isn’t keen to study medicine again. He couldn’t help his dad after all.
Suddenly they hear a noise and the vet leaps up. Someone has dug up and stolen the body of a dead horse. AGAIN. The vet is determined to catch the thief this time. He gives chase into the mountain and Kwanghyun follows. Kwanghyun stumbles over the dead animal and jumps back in horror. But before he has time to call for the vet he is grabbed and knocked out by an acupuncture needle inserted in his neck!
Kwanghyun wakes up in a cave surrounded by dead carcasses like a scene from a horror show. At first it looks like he could be in danger but it turns out this is the makeshift clinic of the doctor who looked after him during the nights when he was sick in the stable. And now he’s busy extracting the insides of various dead animals to study them. (Gross. Again. It looks like he’s pulling out a string of raw soggy sausages.) Kwanghyun can’t believe a doctor lives like this. (It is pretty grim.) The doctor doesn’t want to harm him – he just checks his pulse and sends him on his way.
Kwanghyun goes back to the ranch where everyone is busy getting ready for some important buyers who are coming to see the horses. This is a big event and there will be entertainment too with singing and dancing.
But who should the important buyer be but Myungwhan and his party! The show begins and at first Ji Nyung is excited as she watches the show. But she gets distracted when she hears someone call Kwanghyun’s name. She goes to look for him. Kwanghyun is in charge of the nervous horse (maybe it can sense that it might be sold today).
Myunghwan’s son wonders where Ji Nyung’s gone and he goes in search of her. But just then the nervous horse breaks away from Kwanghyun (great acting by the horse) and charges away knocking Myunghwan’s son to the ground as he goes. Kwanghyun is mortified and he rushes over to the young boy lying on the ground with Ji Nyung by his side.
Surely the two friends are going to notice each other now? We’ve already had the classic slow motion scene of the two of them passing right by each other but looking in opposite directions. But is Kwanghyun going to be held responsible for the young boy’s injuries and dragged away to prison? It’s another cliff hanger.
It usually takes quite a few episodes to get into a new sageuk drama for me – I often can’t get totally involved until the adult actors take over. But I am already into this story and worrying about what’s going to happen later – Poor Ji Nyung. What is she going to think when she discovers that she is not an aristocrat and that the man who is now becoming a father figure in her life was responsible for her father’s death and attempted to have her friend killed too? Not to mention all the other naughty things he is bound to be doing from now on as well ….
but I’m liking Myunghwan as a villain. We see his heartless and greedy side but then his genuine happiness at finding Ji Nyung and looking after her. It makes his a complicated character and I wait with trepidation to see what he will do next.
I knew it. The frustration begins. at the horse ranch Kwanghyun is standing right behind Ji Nyung – the friend he is desperate to find. But he doesn’t recognize her in her fine clothes and she keeps her back to him, too worried about her injured new brother to even notice him. Oh for goodness sake – HE’S BEHIND YOU! Oh these scenes are killing me. And I know we are going to have lots more of them too. :?
Kwanghyun has a special relationship with the horse
Myunghwan continues to watch the show unaware of the accident
The nurse Injoo arrives at the horse ranch looking for Kwanghyun. (It is all a bit too much of a coincidence, isn’t it? That Myunghyun and Ji Nyung should be there on the exact same day!) She asks the master if any new boys have joined the ranch recently. Of course the master says no. (What do you mean no? What about Kwanghyun. Duh!) He doesn’t want to tell her about Kwanghyun and risk losing his slave. Disappointed Injoo is about to leave when she sees the commotion around Myunghwan’s son, Sungha, who is lying lifeless in the field after being knocked down by the horse.
Injoo performs acupuncture on Sungha.
She rushes over, takes his pulse and realises what’s wrong. She announces that she’s a nurse and opens her tool kit and proceeds to start treating the boy with acupuncture. The crowd takes the stranger’s word for it that she’s a nurse and knows what she’s doing. Very trusting. And Ji Nyung is impressed as she watches her insert the needles and then cut the boy across his stomach to drain some blood. Yikes. By the time Myunghwan arrives she has finished the treatment and disappears before he sees her.
Of course someone must pay for the accident. The master (what a wimp he is) won’t take responsibility and blames his underlings – the vets. But he is the one who was adamant that the horse had to be presented and sold today. The head vet, Choo Ki Bae, knows that his life is in danger so tells Kwanghyun to hide but also gives him instructions on how to look after the horse. (He’s very honourable and caring thinking about the horse even when he knows he is probably going to die. This is a much more sober role for actor Lee Hee Do who played a more comic character in the last Lee Byung Hoon sageuk, Dong Yi)
The head vet prepares to be punished
Myunghwan’s guard, Kang Jung Doo, comes to punish the men. So far this episode has given me 10 minutes of frustration – first the kids are standing right next to each other and don’t notice each other and now this. But it’s classic sageuk – the poor always have to pay. The master easily puts the blame onto the vets – but it is his ranch and he should jolly well take responsibility.
And now for a shocker – The guard Jung Doo draws his sword to KILL the horse mercilessly by stabbing her in the neck. The poor animal falls to the ground and lies there lifeless covered in blood. Kwanghyun who is hiding behind the haystack, watches the scene trembling with fear but gutted about the horse. The head vet is led away. He is stoic whilst his underling, Ja Bong, begs for mercy. (oh shut up)
Kwanhyun watches helplessly as the guard kills his horse
But Kwanghyun is determined to help his horse get better. He doesn’t know what to do though as he doesn’t have the medical skills and knowledge yet. But he knows a man that does. But how is he going to get the horse up to the doctor in the mountain cave? He tries to pull the horse up but he’s not strong enough and he remembers how he struggled and failed to help his dying father too. But this time the horse seems to understand what Kwanghyun wants her to do so eventually the horse gets up by herself. They walk up into the mountain with the horse covered in blood-stained bandages.
Kwanghyun has to insert the acupuncture needle into the horse
This is another episode of contrasts. Whilst Myunghwan works in his spotlessly clean, cutting edge royal clinic with high quality herbs and a team of trained nurses, a scruffy and blood-stained Kwanghyun dressed in rags leads his sorrowful horse up to a squalid makeshift clinic in a cave.
The doctor refuses to help the horse at first – because he’s not a vet - but Kwanghyun’s desperate pleas work in the end. First they have to calm the horse before they can stitch her up, but she is nervous and won’t stay still for the doctor to put in an acupuncture needle. So Kwanghyun has to do it. The doctor guides him to the right spot on the horse’s leg and after several nervous tries Kwanghyun finally manages to get the needle in and the horse falls to the ground.
Kwanghyun is mortified. He thinks he has done something wrong. But the acupuncture has worked. The horse is knocked out and the doctor can treat her. Kwanghyun hasn’t had much luck with medicine so far but this moment is a turning point for him. He feels pleased that was actually able to help his horse.
Kwanghyun feels triumphant after helping the horse recover
Sungha is recovering well in the royal clinic and Ji Nyung is pleased to be allowed in to visit him. Myunghwan wants to find the nurse that treated his son so well, but he’s not having any luck. What woman could have such good skills? The thought briefly passes through his mind that it could be his friend Injoo. But then his attention turns to what to do with those responsible for the accident. Should they be punished? At first Myunghwan says yes. But then he discovers that it is the vets who must take the blame. (So now what are you going to do Myunghwan? You of all people knows about the sorry life of a horse doctor.)
Ji Nyung also becomes fascinated with acupuncture
To their surprise, the vets are allowed to return to the ranch. So Myunghwan has shown them mercy. (I should think so too) The master is in a tizzy because Kwanghyun has disappeared with the horse. But then they are all shocked to see him return from the mountain with his horse looking much better and well on the way to recovery!
Kwanghyun returns triumphantly to the ranch with the horse
Injoo still has not given up her search for the Kwanghyun and she meets the doctor from the cave to tell him about him. It turns out that this doctor is the one who taught her acupuncture skills. (What a small world!)
We see more similar and contrasting scenes as Kwanghyun comforts the horse in the stable and Ji Nyung comforts her brother Sungha in the royal clinic. But at the same time both children seem fascinated by acupuncture and healing. Kwanghyun is still on a high after helping the horse recover. He sits in the stable gazing up at the acupuncture needle and the camera moves up to the sky. (Aha, I think it’s time to say good bye to the child Kwanghyun and say hello to the adult.) The camera returns to grown up Kwanghyun sitting in the same spot in the stable gazing at the acupuncture needle.
Introducing Kwanghyun all grown up
As young adults, Kwanghyun and Ji Nyung are still interested in medicine. Ji Nyung practises medicine on people. Kwanghyun is working on animals. Kwanghyun is delighted when he helps a dog and runs off to tell everyone. Unfortunately nobody seems impressed or interested especially since they are in the middle of meeting some important guests from the palace.
The ranch is ordered to look after a horse from the royal stables – (oh no, I can sense this isn’t going to end well.) But when Kwanghyun rides the horse he confirms what the head vet was thinking – something is not right with the horse. They need some special medicine so they’ll have to make a trip the capital.
Introducing Ji Nyung all grown up
Looks like Ji Nyung has been studying medicine in Qing (see chart of relationship between Korea and China at that time) She returns to tell the King all about her time there. It seems King Hyunjong (see chart of Joseon kings) wants the sensible Ji Nyung to spend time with Princess Suk Hwi who right now is having a hissy fit because none of the palace vets know how to treat her kitten. (This is Interesting though – so they have doctors for horses and important animals but not for ‘unimportant animals’ like cats!)
The princess is pleased that Ji Nyung is back. but she’s agitated about her kitten and Ji Nyung suggests they take a walk. They go to an international part of town where there are many immigrants. What a coincidence that Kwanghyun and Ja Bong should be in the exact same place at the same time. Kwanghyun has come to buy medicine from the market. (Don’t tell me we’re going to have another slow motion passing each other moment? There’s a bigger problem now though as they won’t even recognise each other).
Ji Nyung and the princess go out without guard protection
The two ladies end up wandering into a geisha house full of uncouth drinkers. Ji Nyung realises they should probably leave – this is not the place for two nice Joseon ladies – but the princess is feisty and interested to see more. So they stay. At the same time Ja Bong persuades Kwanghyun to go for a drink before they leave the big city and so guess what? – they end up in the geisha house as well.
Kwanghyun is gobsmacked to see two well dressed Joseon ladies in there. And they do look totally out of place quietly eating their food surrounded by raucous drunks. A nearby table of rather seedy looking ‘foreign’ men starts giving them unwanted attention.
Kwanghyun steps in to protect the Joseon ladies from the ‘uncouth foreigners’
The ladies realise that this is their cue to leave, but the men stand in their way. They want to have some ‘fun’. Jin Nyung has some self defence skills but there are two many men now.
Suddenly Kwanghyun leaps to their aid in and there’s a commotion as a fight breaks out – tables upturned. They all have to run for the exit. Kwanghyun takes Ji Nyung’s hand and they run for the door – just as he took her hand and ran in the mountains all those years ago…
Of course they are definitely not going to recognise each other now though as adults. I predicted we would see the changeover from the child actors to adults in episode 4. OK so it was in episode 5. Close. :)
The contrasts continue between the doctor’s luxurious life at the palace and the lowly vet’s life on the horse ranch. And it feels more unfair since Kwanghyun should be the one at the palace! I thought the child actors did a great job – in this episode I was especially moved when the young Kwanghyun watches the horse slashed with the sword. Also later when the young Kwanghyun tries nervously to insert the acupuncture needle into the injured horse’s leg. I was totally believing it all.
The only thing I am struggling with is the heavy reliance on coincidence in the plot of this drama. Yes I know there is always coincidence and I suppose the characters are living in such different worlds that they need special circumstances to bring them together. But in this episode Injoo turns up at the horse ranch on the exact same day that Myunghwan is there. Then Kwanghyun and Ji Nyung end up in the exact same drinking establishment at the exact same time. Even though this is the capital and there are lots of other places they could have gone to. hmmm. That’s a bit much.
Finally Ji Nyung and Kwanghyun meet again but no, they don’t recognise each other. Kwanghyun is starting to build a reputation for being able to treat all kinds of animals – not just horses – and this skill saves him from the wrath of the princess. But as one problem is overcome another one arises – if no one can treat the horse from the royal stable, heads will roll ….
The Queen mother (addressed as omamama by her son – see how other people address each other in the Joseon period) is upset that the two ladies have gone out of the palace without taking any guards. And she should be worried too, because right now they are hiding from the sleazy drunks from the bar. Kwanghyun and Ja Bong have their arms protectively around the ladies (Do they really have to hold them that tight!?)
Finally they manage to lose the drunks and get away. The ladies are grateful to the peasants for helping them, but the princess doesn’t like the way Kwanghyun speaks to her – he tells the ladies off for being in the bar in the first place. Ji Nyung supports the princess - how dare these Chonmin - peasants and the lowest class – speak to the aristocracy yangban like that! (oh the irony – YOU are Chonmin Ji Nyung, not Kwanghyun!) Read more about the class structure in Joseon here.
The princess is furious with their rudeness and announces that she is a PRINCESS. Of course they don’t believe her which annoys her even more. The men just laugh at her and walk off.
But just then someone comes looking for Kwanghyun – there’s a dog that needs medical attention. So Kwanghyun rushes off to help. The princess follows them intrigued. Because if he can heal dogs, maybe he can heal kittens too …
After leaving the ladies, Kwanghyun is surprised to see the men from the drinking place arrested by palace guards. Then he finds that Jabong has been arrested too! And Jabong is putting all the blame on him. (Surprise surprise – he is such a wimp) They are tied up and taken to the palace but have no idea why they have been arrested. There are more surprises when they reach the palace and see the princess there! (Not so cocky now are they!) She enjoys making the two men suffer when they see that she REALLY is a princess! She threatens to put them to death (of course) but will let them live if they can save her cat!
At first Kwanghyun can’t work out what’s wrong with the cat. Why won’t it eat and drink? And then he gets it – he asks for warm water and eventually the cat drinks. He’s realised the cat needs a dentist! All the sweet treats have made its teeth decay, so now it can’t handle anything cold.
Ji Nyung goes to the welfare hospital that treats the poor and asks the nurse Injoo to accept her as a student. It’s a tough job for women as we see when Injoo has problems with a patient who doesn’t want to be treated by a woman. (Grrrr) A woman can’t be a doctor at this time. But to her surprise Injoo refuses to accept Ji Nyung saying that she doesn’t have any experience – she’s just an aristocrat. Ji Nyung is so disappointed since Injoo is the reason she wanted to study acupuncture and moxa (??? ???) in the first place.
Kwanghyun is released by the princess after saving her cat but falls right into more trouble when he meets the head vet and hears that the horse they were looking after for the royal stable is sick. Diplomatic relations with Qing and Joseon may suffer if the horse can’t be given as a tribute gift to the Qing dynasty. And we all know who will have to pay if the horse can’t recover….
So now the blame game begins. The vets from the royal stables refuse to take any responsibility of course and try to blame the ranch. Kwanghyun knows that the horse was already sick when it arrived at the ranch but he can’t prove this. The only thing to do now is try to save the horse. And quick. Kwanghyun desperately tries to work out what to do.
Myunghwan is put in charge of treating the horse and he goes to the stables to see the problem for himself. Everyone is perplexed. What is wrong with the horse? Meanwhile, through a lucky coincidence Kwanghyun gets an idea. First of all the owner of the dog Kwanghyun treated before comes to find him desperate for his help since his dog is sick again – the owner didn’t fork out for the medicine he needed. Kwanghyun is upset. He can’t save the dog now, it’s too late. They will have to put him to sleep. So he gives the dog some medicine thinking he will now die.
But wait, the dog isn’t dead. In fact, he’s better!
Myunghwan orders the arrest of the vets
The royal vets don’t know what to do and just blame the ranch. But they are all arrested. Then just in time Kwanghyun leaps in announcing that he can save the horse before the envoys arrive from Qing. A bold claim. How will you do that, Myunghwan asks? With acupuncture, he replies. Myunghwan seems to enjoy pointing out that a horse is worth more than a slave, so if he fails to cure the horse ….he will die.
So yet again the threat of death looms over us. I wonder how many times throughout this drama Kwanghyun will be threatened with execution! My favourite scene from this episode has to be when the feisty princess has Kwanghyun and Jabong dragged to the palace so that she can announce to them that she really is a princess :) Yes, they have to grovel now! I like the choice of Kim So-Eun as the princess. On the one hand she’s playful and sweet. But she’s also dizzy with power demanding respect from the lowly peasants threatening them with death! There’s more of an edge to her here than her usual cute ‘girl next door’ roles in other dramas like Boys Before Flowers and The Man Who Can’t Marry.
Now we have to get used to seeing Kwanghyun and Ji Nyung as grown ups, so it will take a few episodes for me to invest emotionally in their characters. At the moment I’m finding Kwanghyun a bit TOO GOOD. And he seems more ‘gentle’ than when he was a child. I know he is surrounded by selfish cowards and incompetent losers, but surely he can’t be perfect, can he? It’s interesting to see Ji Nyung now grown up and confident knowing what she wants to do with her life and being taken aback when Injoo refuses to let her join the hospital. What a different person she would be if she had grown up as a peasant girl!
Tension builds as Kwanghyun prepares to treat the sick horse – Kwanghyun and the other vets’ lives depends on it. But actually the horse seems to be the least of his problems – he can see what’s wrong and knows how to help the horse. But what about all the other people who want him to fail? Can he deal with them too?
While Kwanghyun prepares to treat the sick horse, Jinyung is wondering what to do about Kwanghyun, since she has discovered that he has the SAME name as her childhood friend, but surely her friend is dead? He must be someone else. But just to make sure, she asks the guard Jung Doo if he is ABSOLUTELY sure that her friend died all those years ago. (Oh no. Don’t ask him for help.) And then she goes and tells him that she’s found someone with the same name as Kwanghyun. Of course this worries Jung Doo. Since he never found Kwanghyun’s body. He says he’ll investigate. (I bet he will.)
The guard Jung Doo is concerned at the thought that Kwanghyun is still alive
Kwanghyun explains that he will use acupuncture to knock the horse out so that he can treat it. But it’s very dangerous – putting a needle in the pressure point between the eyes and near the heart could kill the horse. But there is no choice. The vets can’t believe it. No one has ever successfully managed such a thing before. Who does this peasant think he is? But Kwanghyun is confident - even though he knows he must take responsibility if everything goes wrong.
Jabong helps Kwanghyun prepare to treat the horse
Kwanghyun begins the treatment in front of Myunghwan and the other vets. They all seem to be standing around ready to pounce on him as soon as he makes a mistake. (no pressure) Frighteningly long, thick needles are pushed deep into the horse’s skin. ( I don’t know what’s worse – watching the needles go in or hearing the sound effects.)
But all the while the other vets mutter in the background. No one has ever achieved such a dangerous thing. And NOBODY (except Jabong) wants Kwanghyun to succeed now. The vets watch hoping he will fail as he prepares for the last two most dangerous pressure points – one false move and he could pierce the heart or the brain….but he’s done it. He puts the last needle in and sits back with satisfaction. The royal vets observe the scene looking glum.
Meanwhile Jinyung goes to the welfare hospital to take the exam to enter the hospital – she has decided that if Injoo won’t accept her as a student, then she will take the entrance exam like everyone else. Injoo is upset that she is still trying to get into the hospital. But when Jinyung comes top on the results board Injoo can’t stop her entering the hospital.
Injoo doesn’t want Jinyung to become a nurse – the job is lowly and dirty (cleaning up sick and blood for starters :( ) And Injoo is worried that Jinyung will not be treated the same as the other nurses – no one will want to ask her to do dirty jobs since she is an aristocrat. But there’s more to it than that – Injoo also admits that she knows Jinyung from before and knew her father too. But she misses the bit out about her father being a peasant and swapping her as a child …
The princess is happy to hear that Kwanghyun is now working in the royal stable treating the horses. (He is sticking moxa up the horse’s bum as we speak. Yikes.) She wants to give him a present of silk but throws a wobbler when she receives (what she sees as) substandard silk from the silk merchant. So she goes to the shop herself to choose the fabric.
But the other vets are unhappy that Kwanghyun is being so successful with the horse. They hatch a cunning plan to sabotage all his good work. They lure him away from the horse and then spike the horse’s moxa with some suspicious looking white powder – must be poison.
Next thing we know the horse is foaming at the mouth. Kwanghyun is shocked and confused but works out that the horse has been poisoned and tries to fix the problem but the other vets refuse to help him and get him what he asks for. Kwanghyun is desperate to treat the horse but Myunghwan has him arrested.
Tensions rise as while the horse lies dying, the envoy from Qing arrives! There’s seems to be nothing that Myunghwan can do until he hears that Kwanghyun was using herbs to treat the horse. Myunghwan demands to see these herbs. The other vets try to get rid of the ‘evidence’ as fast as they can but Myunghwan insists on taking a look at it.
One sniff of the herbs tells him something is wrong. He realises that Kwanghyun was right – someone poisoned the horse. So Kwanghyun is released and the horse is treated with an antidote. Although Myunghwan didn’t seem that pleased to see Kwanghyun succeed with the treatment it is in his best interest for the horse to recover, as ultimately the horse is his responsibility. The head vet is demoted and exiled.
The envoy is in a meeting with the king being told that they cannot be given the horse after all. There’s tension as the envoy doesn’t take the news well. But suddenly Myunghwan interrupts the meeting to announce that the horse is fit after all. (I’m still not exactly sure why they couldn’t give them a different horse? and why only one horse?) Myunghwan has recognised Kwanghyun’s skill. But to the head doctor he plays it down telling him it was just luck. (Looks like he’s got a rival and he’s not happy about it. Can’t wait for him to find out who Kwanghyun really is …)
Just as it seems Kwanghyun is out of hot water another problem arises – the guard Jung Doo turns up to interrogate him about his past. Did he really grow up on the horse ranch? Kwanghyun remembers back to his childhood running away from guards and his father being called a traitor. There is no way he can tell the truth about himself. Jinyung overhears him tell the guard that yes, he grew up on the ranch. And so she thinks he is not her old friend after all. (Oh come on Jinyung why don’t you just ask him straight out yourself? Duh!)
So finally Kwanghyun and the others can get ready to go home when palace guards arrive with a royal command – but what is it – we’ll have to wait and see.
Jinyung arrives at the welfare hospital to start her training. But she is sent to the stables to work there instead – Jinyung realises that Injoo is trying to make life difficult for her so she’ll quit. And things do start off badly – she falls over in the field straight into some poo. Then a maverick barrow comes flying towards her and Kwanghyung has to leap across the field and pull her out of the way to safety just in time (the sageuk equivalent of saving the damsel from an approaching truck on a highway. But isn’t this the third time we’ve seen this move in the drama so far?).
So Kwanghyun and Jinyung are now working together at the royal stables. This will be a good opportunity for Jinyung to come right out and ask Kwanghyung about his past. But will she do it? Probably not for another 40 episodes! grrrr. Anyway, I’m hoping we’ll see some chemistry between them from now on….
This is my favourite episode so far with so much humour arising from the innocent relationships between the men and women. The princess with her crush is definitely a highlight :) We start off light and playful as Kwanghyun and Jinyung get used to working at the stables (??? sabokshi) together surrounded by all sorts of animals. But by the end of the episode another crisis has arisen. So can Kwanghyun step up and save the day once more?
We left off last episode with Jinyung standing in a field with pigs everywhere when she unceremoniously fell over into some poo. Then the maverick barrow comes loose and flies right for her. It’s Kwanghyun who leaps to save her and pulls her out of the way. When he sees her dirty hands he laughs his head off much to her annoyance. But he helps her clean up.
While they clean up Jinyung asks Kwanghyun how he managed to get a job here in the stables. He starts to brag – it was a royal command from the king HIMSELF as a reward for curing the horse. But he exaggerates and says he met the king personally. Jinyung plays along – so what does the king look like, she asks pretending that she is just a lowly doctor and has never met him. Kwanghyun makes up a story. But he unwittingly reveals himself as a liar and a peasant – since people like Kwanghyun never actually got to see the king in those days so he thinks the king looked different to ordinary humans. She is not impressed!
Kwanghyung is fascinated by all the different animals at the stables. They make great research for him and he wanders around trying to get a closer look and sniffing all the various poo from the different animals – he even asks if he can keep the peacock droppings (I know he is doing this for research purposes but walking around picking up poo is rather gross. And you know you are in the servant class when you even have to ASK a superior if you can collect the poo!)
In the middle of all this he is so busy sniffing poo that he forgets to go to the meeting with the new head of the stables. (now that the old one has been exiled) The new head, Jang Dosik, seems like a serious, disciplined sort of chap. And he’s not impressed when Kwanghyun rocks up late for the meeting. His punishment will be no dinner tonight. Not a good start.
Meanwhile, the princess wants to go and see Kwanghyun – so SHE was the one who got him a place at the stables without an entrance exam. But her lady-in-waiting is worried about how this will look. A princess can’t just turn up for no reason to see a peasant – that would be inappropriate. But the princess doesn’t care. She’s in LOVE. :)
But it looks like Kwanghyun might be making some enemies – the other students don’t like him because of the way he mysteriously got a place at the stables. The mood lightens though when their attention turns to the new nurse. The all-male class arrives giddy with excitement to see a female. They fall over themselves at the sight of her! (Poor desperate young men.) Kwanghyun tries to calm them down. But he seems pleased to see her too and he runs after her to help her carry stuff afterwards. (Teacher’s pet!)
He puts his foot in it a couple of times though complementing her on how she dealt with the unruly class of young men by insinuating that she is a woman of the world who often goes out drinking in geisha bars at night. Cheeky.
Kwanghyun and Jinyung get to know each other
The Queen Mother collapses again and the old head doctor is dragged out to treat her but he’s getting old and seems to struggle with applying the acupuncture. Myunghwan is told that he will soon be in charge of the pharmacy. But he has a rival: the head of the welfare hospital Ko Joo Man.
And now we are back to the stables. And I like the humour between Jinyung and Kwanghyun as she struggles to get a pig back in the pen by yanking it by its tail. Kwanghyun shows her how to pull him by his ears instead.
But peace never lasts for long. Suddenly their help is needed when a rider is thrown off his horse. Jinyung and Kwanghyun spring into action. Kwanghyun rushes over to see to the horse while Jinyung rushes to help the rider. She scrapes some amber from her norigae to heal the wound and then applies acupuncture. Kwanghyun looks on impressed. But Jinyung is annoyed with him – how could he ignore the rider and just go to look after the horse? She’s misunderstood him. She thinks he is just thinking about money – a horse is worth more than a slave. (But I don’t believe that she would really think that of him – after all, he’s a peasant too)
Now this is my favourite scene in the drama so far… Over at the palace, the princess is still in a mood. She doesn’t want to play the games she used to play. I wonder why! She wants to go and see Kwanghun who is now in a field dealing with a lamb. The other sheep won’t accept the orphan lamb and one sheep kicks the poor little feller in the head (great acting by the sheep. OR was it CG?)
While Kwanghyun is worrying about what to do about this, the princess arrives with the excuse that her kitten is sick again. (But everyone can see that the kitten is NOT SICK) She calls for Kwanghyun – insists that he come and look at her kitten. Then in front of everyone she can’t hide her joy at seeing him and asks him how he is! Hilariously inappropriate and the others are gob-smacked. And her lady-in-waiting et al look mortified. When the princess sees Jinyung working at the stables she’s even more pleased. Because Jinyung can help her see Kwanghyun more often. Ha ha. Of course Kwanghyun can’t find anything wrong with the kitten which worries him. But the princess just chats away to him totally unaware of his discomfort.
Later it’s Jinyung’s turn to be impressed with Kwanghyun’s skills when he solves the problem with the orphan lamb. When another lamb is stillborn Kwanghyun replaces it with the orphan so the mother will thinks it’s her new baby. Jinyung helps him. But it’s a long night out in the field and in the morning her hanbok is filthy. So she decides to get another one made. (Couldn’t she just get changed?)
And suddenly I feel like I’m in the sageuk version of Pretty Woman: With her clothes still covered in muck, Jinyung goes to the shop in the market. Bu the merchant doesn’t want to deal with her since she’s dirty and smelly. The assistants cover their noses and look down on her and refuse to serve her. They try to turn her away. They don’t believe she has the money to pay. But then a young and chivalrous yangban turns up and saves the day – he says he will buy the poor maiden all the clothes she needs.
The yangban is Sungha, her brother. But as Jinyung chats happily to him pleased that he is back, Kwanghyun watches them with surprise. Jinyung dropped her norigae in the field and so Kwanghyun has followed her to return it. But why is she talking to a young yangban?
Kibae and Jabong are back in the city too and have found accommodation. Kwanghyun takes them to a well known restaurant to celebrate where his old ‘teacher’ from the island is now the chef! Kwanghyun asks him if he has found anything about his old friend Yongdal but of course there is no news. He has not given up on her either.
And now for another crisis. The king is informed that cattle are being infected with a disease and it is spreading fast. If the disease reaches the capital it will be disastrous. The vets are sent to deal with it. It’s going to be grim and lots of animals will have to be killed. But it’s even worse than expected – the local people are getting infected too…
Although we’ve ended with a nasty situation (as always) I laughed a lot in this episode. Especially in this scene between the princess and Kwanghyun. She seems so blissfully unaware of her behaviour. The guards are all bowing outside while she spends time with Kwanghyun. He is taken aback by the attention he is getting from her too and unaware of the reason why she is doing this. (L.O.V.E) They are from different worlds and it’s so clear here. He is worried that if he can’t do whatever she asks, then his head will roll. They are so CUTE.
Things are looking pretty grim in Icheon as the vets try desperately to work out how to stop the cattle disease spreading. But the symptoms are different to previous infections and the disease has even started spreading to humans too. Kwanghyun goes from hero to zero as at first he makes a breakthrough in finding the cause of the sick cattle, but then everyone starts to think he is mistaken and has only made things worse …
There is panic in Icheon when the vets realise that the cattle disease can spread to people too. The palace is freaking out as well since Icheon is just a hop, skip, and a jump from the capital. Doctors and nurses are sent to deal with the outbreak. And Doctor Ko, the head of the welfare clinic, insists on being in charge of the party. The scheming Lord Jung doesn’t like this idea as he thinks it will look bad if Myunghwan doesn’t go and solve the problem.
At first the princess is not concerned with the nightmare that’s going on in Icheon. She is too busy getting hold of sick stray puppies so that she can call for Kwanghyun’s help! (This is SO CUTE though. ‘Puppy love!’ :) ) When she’s told that he’s gone to Icheon, she’s devastated – what if something happens to him?
As this is an emergency, all those with any relevant skills are being sent to Icheon and this includes Kibae and Jabong – although the wimpy Jabong is not into this idea at all. Doctor Ko and the doctors arrive with medicine from the capital to treat the disease but Kwanghyun is wondering if they are all barking up the wrong tree. Perhaps it’s something else? After all, the symptoms are slightly different and it’s spreading too quickly.
Meanwhile, Sungha is having fun drinking with geisha and playing polo. (It’s nice to be a yangban, isn’t it?) But he leaps into action when he hears about the diseased cattle in Icheon and that Jinyong is there too.
And now for the inevitable. The first man dies from the disease. And the situation is even more serious. It’s assumed that the patient caught the infection from the cattle and everyone desperately tries to work out what to do. Everyone except Jabong. He is not interested in sticking around and wants to make a run for it, as fast as he can, away from the village. But when he tries to leave, he is gutted to discover that guards have closed the village off so no one can leave.
Jinyung is very upset by the death of the patient because it reminds her of the time in the cave when she helplessly watched a man die. She tells Kwanghyun this too – but he has no idea that she is talking about the death of HER father and the man he thinks was HIS father.
Kwanghyun decides to do an autopsy on the cattle. This might give them an idea of why the cattle died. But guards are guarding the graves of the cows. So they need a distraction and it doesn’t take much – Jinyung easily gets rid of them by taking their pulses and telling them to get themselves looked at quickly by a doctor! Jinyung helps Kwanghyun dig up a cow. Then he starts cutting open the cow and pulls out the intestine and all the organs GROSS.
Historical note: doctors weren’t allowed to do autopsies on people at this time in history. In the sageuk medical drama Heojun, in one of the most memorable scenes of the drama Heojun does an autopsy on his teacher (who coincidentally is played by the same actor who plays Dr Ko ). But he does this in secret in a cave as it was illegal at the time. Heojun is set just before this drama (see my chart of Joseon Kings and Sageuk dramas for reference)
Kwanghyun discovers that the animals have haemoraged in their stomachs, which means they have eaten something toxic. Does this mean that the disease is not spreading from the cattle to people after all? If so, the people must be eating whatever it is as well.
He tells Doctor Ko about what he has discovered. Some of the other doctors are arrogant and don’t want to listen to a mere ‘horse quack’. But Dr Ko is a good man and is prepared to listen to anyone with a suggestion or idea regardless of their rank. He seems interested in Kwanghyun’s theory and wants to see the dissected animals for himself.
After seeing the (gross) evidence he agrees that this must be some kind of toxin and he changes the medication for the patients. He sends out orders to start checking all the food and water that the villagers and cattle have been consuming. But one other doctor in particular is annoyed at the way he is spoken to. (Get over yourself. This is an EMERGENCY. What annoys me is that this is so true today as well. How many disasters in the world could have been avoided if people in power weren’t so ARROGANT. Grrrr.) But before they have time to research further, orders come from the palace to slaughter the cattle.
It’s become a pretty heavy episode. At first it seemed as though Kwanghyun had solved the problem and all they needed to do was find where the poison was coming from. But gradually things turn to despair as there seems to be nothing wrong with the food and drink and still patients are dying. The only light relief comes from Jabong who is ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED of catching the disease and is dressed up as a mummy to avoid getting sick! (I don’t think this outfit is going to help you, Jabong!)
Myunghwan is worried that Doctor Ko is mistaken in his diagnosis and wants to go to Icheon to see for himself. But Lord Jung is against this. He sees this as an opportunity – after all, if Doctor Ko fails to sort out this problem and lots of people die, then this is good news for Lord Jung and Myunghwan as they can jump in and seize control of the medical facilities. (That’s if the disease doesn’t spread to the capital and kill everyone first, of course!)
Sungha is worried about Jinyung and rides off to get her even though he has the civil exams in a couple of days. Even the boss of the shikdang closes her doors worried about the rumours from Icheon – customers may bring the disease to her place.
Suddenly there’s bad news for Kwanghyun and his theory. Although they have searched everywhere, no toxins have been found in the food or drink in the village. And the medicines are running out. This DELIGHTS the other officials who insist that Myunghwan be sent for to sort the mess out. But Doctor Ko is undeterred. He instructs them to search the whole village AGAIN for the toxins. They MUST have missed something.
But now Jinyung is looking ill too. And then to her horror she sees that she has the red spots on her arm. She’s caught the disease!
The princess is upset to hear that people are dying in Icheon because she is worried about Kwanghyun. She wants to send her guard to go and get him! Meanwhile Sungha tries to get into the village to reach Jinyung but they won’t let him in.
Jinyung tries to hide her symptoms but Kwanghyun realises that she is sick. She admits that she has drunk the local water and then collapses into his arms. (aha is this a clue?) But as she lies in his arms Sungha turns up and drags her away from Kwanghyun. (Surely there’s going to be some rivalry here although Sungha doesn’t realise it yet. After Kwanghyun is a mere peasant) He sends Kwanghyun to get a doctor…
Well it’s certainly exciting now and I really want to know WHAT is causing the disease. Now that Jinyung is sick too I suspect they will find the cause in the next episode. After all, she can’t die. I’m also interested to see what happens between Kwanghyun and Sungha. I’m not clear about the nature of Jinyung and Sungha’s relationship. They have grown up together from childhood as brother and sister. So does this mean that he simply feels protective over her like a brother? Or are we heading for a love triangle?
It’s a feel good episode this one. Of course we can guess who saves the day, but he also amusingly ends up in an awkward position when a certain princess makes advances towards him. I love how she is so spontaneous. Hilarious.
While Sungha cradles Jinyung in his arms, Kwanghyun looks at him and recognises him as the yangban that Jinyung was talking to in the market. He wonders how come she knows all these aristocrats! Then he remembers that he has to go and get a doctor!
Jinyung is taken to the makeshift clinic but her condition is not good and at one point she loses consciousness. Sungha’s appearance at the camp is causing a lot of gossip as the other doctors are surprised to hear that Jinyung’s brother is a yangban! Sungha wants to take Jinhyung back to the capital. (What? When no one else is allowed to leave the village? Yangban eh? Grrr. They think they can do anything. But at least she tells him that this is not possible.)
Kwanghyun is being hard on himself and doubting his theory that this is not smallpox but poison. The others are doubting him too. Only Dr Ko (and Jinyung) believe in him and stick up for him. And so after talking to Jinyung he pulls himself together and decides that he WILL find out where the poison is coming from. He gets the guards to check the river. He also hears that recently a trade mission came from Qing and did business with the local officials. But there doesn’t seem to be anything dangerous on the list of items that were traded. It’s a mystery.
Jinyung wants Sungha to go back to the capital, because he is supposed to take the exam soon. But he says he can’t leave now either since he has entered the village. (He’s changed his tune hasn’t he?) The guards search the water but it’s raining hard and it seems like a waste of time. The men want to go back. But Kwanghyun’s passion keeps everyone hunting.
Myunghwan arrives at the camp and Dr Ko seems pleased to see him. But Injoo is shocked to hear that he has arrived. Does this mean that he doesn’t know she works there? I don’t think they’ve seen each other since the death of their friend all those years ago.
But Dr Ko is not so pleased to see Myunghwan when he hears that Myunghwan has been given authority by the king to take over. And he has brought herbs to treat smallpox! (??) (Come on Myunghwan, even WE know it’s not smallpox and we aren’t even doctors. :) )
Myunghwan starts storming around throwing out orders and changing everything until he realises that Jinyung and Sungha are in the village too. This makes him think. Suddenly the situation is even more serious for him, because he may not really care if villagers die, but he will do anything for his own children. Maybe he will have to listen to Kwanghyun after all.
Kwanghyun comes back from the river with no luck. They found nothing there. But then he meets a young boy playing with an abalone shell which he found in the river. When Kwanghyun hears that there were lots of shells thrown away in the river, he goes to take a look. He realises that the abalone was supposed to be traded in Joseon but went bad on the way so was thrown away in the water. Vinegar was thrown away too and nobody realised that abalone and vinegar together are a lethal combination. (Is this true?) Kwanghyun knows about this because he grew up by the sea.
Myunghwan doesn’t believe any of it. How can abalone and vinegar be poisonous? However, they don’t have any other suggestions right now. And Jinyung trusts Kwannghyun, so she asks him to experiment on her: she will take the medicine first to see if she recovers. So an antidote is made and Jinyung calmly drinks it. Could it really be seafood poisoning?
Yes, it could! Sure enough Jinyung starts to recover. The red spots leave her body and her fever disappears. Dr Ko is pleased (and probably relieved) and Kwanghyun is congratulated. But Myunghwan seems full of mixed emotions. He must be relieved that Jinyung is safe but annoyed that she recovered under Dr Ko’s watch. This is NOT good news for Myunghwan and he knows it as he glares into the distance doing his impression of Darth Vadar.
Sungha, relieved and smiling, comes to see Jinyung. But his smile fades when he notices her chatting and giggling with Kwanghyun! I think Kwanghyun is going to make another enemy… However over at the palace the king is pleased that the crisis is over. Now which doctor will he promote? ( I think we can all guess )
Still at the palace, the princess is so upset she can’t eat. She’s in LOVE and upset that she could do nothing to help Kwanghyun when he was in danger. But when she gets word that he is safe and back at the palace she rushes off to see him. The lady-in-waiting doesn’t want her to do this – it is so inappropriate – but she rushes off anyway straight into the arms of Kwanghyun. OMG Is she really hugging him In Front Of Everyone !!!
But then Kwanghyun comes running up. He is so polite to her and she looks a little upset – (perhaps because she is aware that their levels are so different that she can’t show her real feelings. It’s ironic that he seems to be able to sweet talk the princess and say exactly the right thing to her, but he often annoys Jinyung by saying exactly the wrong thing her! I like that there is so much humour in this drama – more than in previous dramas directed by Lee Byung Hun.)
The restaurant is back in business and Lord Jung makes an appointment to meet Doctor Ko there. Lord Jung wants to test the water and find out exactly what Dr Ko is thinking – does he want to be promoted? His aim must be to persuade Dr Ko that Myunghwan would be the better man for the job.
He flatters Dr Ko to find out what he’s up to. And unfortunately discovers that Dr Ko IS interested in becoming the chief physician. But the whole evening backfires on Lord Jung – his intention was to dissuade Dr Ko from accepting the job, but his flattery has the opposite effect as Dr Ko says he now feels more confident to accept the job! (Lord Jung’s face is a picture as he chokes on his drink. I think it’s the first time we’ve seen him lose that smug look. ha ha) Dr Ko acts like he has no idea what Lord Jung is up to. But he does know and THAT is why he wants to take the job. Myunghwan is furious when he hears that Dr Ko has taken the job.
The young vets are missing Jinyung. She is still convalescing. And Kwanghyun wonders where she lives worrying that someone should check on her. Dr Ko arrives and reminds Kwanghyun that he wants Kwanghyun to teach him what he knows. He really shows a lack of arrogance as he is still prepared to learn from someone much younger and lower in rank than himself. So Kwanghyun shows him how to apply acupuncture on a horse.
Sungha is taking the civil service exam (a re-enactment of the civil service exam is carried out on Hangul Day every year in Seoul) He finishes very quickly much to everyone’s surprise. But he wants to leave because Jinyung is waiting. (I am the only one that thinks he is over confident?) He jokes around with Jinyung about her closeness to Kwanghyun. (Is he really fine about it though?)
The princess looks serious as she goes off for an appointment with the queen mother. She asks for permission to leave the palace to see her friend Jinyung who is still ill. Permission is granted and the princess’ face breaks into a smile. (We knew it. We know the real reason why she wants to get out of the palace! And who she really wants to see…) Sure enough she goes to Jinyung’s house but calls for Kwanghyun to come and look at her ‘sick dog’ ha ha.
Jinyung is summoned to see the princess. But when she arrives, she finds the servants waiting outside the grounds. The princess has sent the servants away because she wants to be alone with Kwanghyun! She uses any excuse to get close to him, putting her hand on his pretending that it’s all for the sick puppy’s benefit. He doesn’t know what to do. So funny. She daydreams about leaning in and kissing him. And then she does it. She ACTUALLY does it. She leans in and kisses him on the cheek. And Jinyung has just arrived and sees this. We end with everyone in shock – Kwanghyung, Jinyung, and even the princess!
Well, I didn’t think she would actually do it. I didn’t think she would kiss him. It’s so cute that in this strict Confucian society the princess is so impulsive. She can’t control her emotions and it’s adorable. Although it will probably land her or others around her in trouble later. Surely Kwanghyun would be the one punished if this was discovered even though it’s not his fault. The strict rules of behaviour between men and women and the rules of behaviour between the different classes makes this scene shocking but very funny. It has to be my favourite scene so far! Right now I’m rooting for the princess and Kwanghyun!
So here we are at the aftermath of the dreaded kiss. Ha ha. Or hang on – did she actually kiss him? Are we going to discover that this was all a daydream too? No it appears that it DID happen. :) But Kwanghyun is the perfect gentleman. He manages to get out of this awkward situation but straight into a bigger problem – one of the other vets needs a doctor, but there is no doctor available. And if someone doesn’t treat the patient soon, he’s going to die….
Kwanghyun reacts quickly after the princess kisses him. He leaps up blaming himself for leaning in too close to her while he was trying to treat the puppy. (Good idea – make it seem like an accident. Although I’m sure he knows what really happened!) The princess, also in shock and not knowing what to do, seems relieved that he is taking the blame (!) but at least she doesn’t let him grovel on the ground for forgiveness.
Jinyung has seen all this too. And she turns away with her hand over her mouth. When Sungha turns up and asks her what’s wrong, she can hardly speak! (Now is this because she ‘likes’ Kwanghyun or is it simply because she can’t believe that she just saw a princess kiss a peasant?!) She doesn’t know what to say, so she just rushes off. Kwanghyun leaves the house in a hurry too, but on his way out he admires Sungha’s horse and the grand house he lives in. He doesn’t realise Jinyung lives here as well! He bumps in to Sungha again and he’s curious to know what Sungha and Jinyung’s relationship is. But Sungha is called away suddenly and tells Kwanghyun to ask her himself. (Now come on, this is dragging out now, how long would it take just to tell him right now? Grrr)
At the palace, the lady-in-waiting is mortified when she hears that the princess KISSED a horse doctor! She will be punished too if anyone ever discovers this! So she advises the princess to STAY AWAY from him then she will forget him. (Hmm. Really? But is this going to be out of sight out of mind OR absence makes the heart grow fonder?)
Dr. Ko takes over his new position as the chief physician of the royal clinic ??? (ne-ui-won) He discovers straight away that there are lots of underhand practices going on at the clinic such as doctors accepting bribes etc. He means to put a stop to it. And the whole place is searched thoroughly and the accounts checked. This is very bad news for Lord Jung and Myunghwan who worry about what to do. Where is the money going to come from now? Dr Ko also tells the king that he wants to change the application process for entry to the clinic. He wants to make the exams open for all so that they can get the most talented doctors – not just yangban.
Finally Myunghwan meets Inju again. But her face falls when she sees him. He calls her Inju-ya – the familiar way to address someone close. She tells him not to do that because they don’t have a relationship anymore. She’s guessed that he had something to do with the politicians trying to sabotage Dr Ko when he was in Icheon and she looks disappointed in him. She walks away from him and there seems to be a look of sadness or regret in his eye. (Myunghwan seemed like a good man at the beginning before he ended up being forced into the murder of the king’s son and then his friend. But by siding with the dodgy politicians now – when he has a choice to do the right thing – it shows that he really is weak. Inju meanwhile shows that she is honourable by staying at the side of the good Doctor Ko.)
Jinyung bumps into Kwanghun at the stables for the first time since Kissgate. She feels awkward and at first tries to ignore him. But he rushes over to chat with her and STILL wants to know who Sungha is. (Will someone PLEASE put him out of his misery!) He clearly thinks they are having an affair. She doesn’t want to tell him who she is and is saved when one of the student vets gets ‘sick’.
But the other vets giggle as Jinyung checks him over. They know he just wants attention and for her to touch him! But she discovers that his pulse is fast and she wonders if he has some chest problems. Kwanghyun doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with him and that he’s just messing around. But she tells Kwanghyun to keep an eye on him – maybe he IS sick after all.
Suddenly the vets are called out to a small island to see to a horse. They have to get a boat across and once they are away from the clinic and doctors, the young student starts feeling out of breath. But by now it’s too late to catch a boat back and there is no doctor available to see them. The patient is in a bad way and passes out and could die if nothing is done. Someone has to jump into action, but horse doctors are not allowed to treat people.
But it’s clear that the young man is going to die, so Kwanghyun borrows the doctor’s acupuncture needles. He tries hard to remember what Jinyung told him about pressure points on humans. The others think he’s crazy because if anything goes wrong he will have to take responsibility. But Kwanghyun can’t just sit back and let the poor bloke die. Nervously he looks over the needles – they are totally different and much finer than the ones they use on horses. So at first he doesn’t know which needle to use and tries again to remember what Jinyung told him.
Kwanghyun applies acupuncture and then they spend a long night waiting to see what will happen. The patient starts breathing again but he won’t wake up and Kwanghyun is worried that he did something wrong. They return to the clinic the following day and Dr Ko is told what happened.
Dr Ko doesn’t blame Kwanghyun. He says the treatment was simply too late. But others aren’t going to be so understanding and when the patient doesn’t wake up Kwanghyun gets worried. Will they blame him? Rumours spread that a horse doctor has been acting like a ‘real’ doctor. Myunghwan is shocked too and looks like he’s going to make a big deal of it. Does he see this as a way to get rid of Dr Ko?
Meanwhile the princess wanders listlessly around the palace grounds. Without thinking she finds herself walking towards the stables and has to stop herself going to see Kwanghyun. But then she hears some distressing news. She is called to see the queen mother for tea and is told that it’s time for her to MARRY. She can’t believe it but she can’t tell the queen mother why she doesn’t want to get married yet.
She goes back to her quarters in a tizzy and then one of the court ladies comes in to tell her something about Kwanghyun. But the lady-in-waiting stops her from finishing what she was going to say – because his name is not to be mentioned here anymore.
Kwanghyun is getting a hard time from the other vets for trying to be a ‘real doctor’. Finally he is called to the boss and told that they can’t keep him anymore – he must leave the stables. They are throwing him out! But all is not lost because Dr Ko suggests he take the exams to study medicine and become a doctor.
Meanwhile Sungha and his friends celebrate his getting top honours in the civil service exam. Jinhyung arrives and Kwanghyun sees her and overhears the others call her aggashi and so realises that she is a yangban. But there’s no time to talk about that now as the guards arrive and Kwanghyun is arrested!
I love the way Kwanghyun gets out of the ‘situation’ with the princess. But he always just walks from one problem straight into the next. And now it looks like he’s going to be punished for trying to help the young vet. I assume he is getting arrested for treating a human patient. And I suppose Myunghwan is behind this. It seems that Myunghwan really wants to get rid of Kwanghyun. But is this because he doesn’t like the idea of a horse vet becoming a doctor? Does he feel threatened? Does it remind him of his own humble beginnings? Or is it because he sees this as an opportunity to somehow present Dr Ko as incompetent – for encouraging a horse doctor to act like a doctor?
So Kwanghyun is not going to get away with treating a patient – it is against the law for a horse doctor to treat a human patient – although it seems unfair since he saved the young man’s life! But we can guess who is behind all this. Kwanghyun must be punished and he is to receive a brutal beating – can he survive?
As Kwanghyun sees Jinyung with her aristocratic friends he finally realises that she too is a yangban. But he doesn’t have time to think about this too much because suddenly the palace guards rock up and arrest him for attempted murder! (We can guess who is behind this) He’s thrown into a cell and Jinyung rushes to see him but there’s nothing she can do to help him.
She notices that his attitude has already changed towards her and he apologises for the way he spoke to her in the past – he would never have been so friendly had he known her true status and he seems full of regret. I don’t think this is his biggest problem right now though because it looks like he may get beaten to death as a punishment for illegally treating a patient!
The medical board meet to decide what to do about Kwanghyun. Of course Myunghwan is behind his arrest although officially it’s the patient’s family who wanted Kwanghyun investigated. Even when Jinyung begs Myunghwan to help Kwanghyun, he refuses – he is so obsessed with power. (What is she going to say when she discovers what Myunghwan is really like?) Meanwhile, Dr Ko could be in trouble too for not punishing Kwanghyun in the first place.
The time has come for Kwanghyun to receive his punishment. Everyone is concerned because the beating could kill him. He is taken out into the prison grounds and lies face down with his hands stretched out and tied down. The guard begins the beating but when Kwanghyun passes out, the guards throw water on him to wake him up. (you can see this equipment at the outdoor Korean Folk Village). But Kwanghyun accepts his punishment and blames himself as the patient remains unconscious.
After the beating Kwanghyun is in a bad way and Kidae and Jabong take him back to their house and desperately search for a doctor. Jinyung comes to help and brings herbs to treat his wounds.
Meanwhile, the family of the patient are given a big bag of money on the condition that they tell no one about this. They seem like decent people, just poor, and it’s clear that it wasn’t their idea to complain that a mere horse doctor treated their son. In fact they seem grateful and ask after him. They probably have no idea that Kwanghyun was almost beaten to death. But they must realise something is strange since they have been told to keep quiet about the money…
Kwanghyun is already sitting up eating chuk! (That was quick. Surely he is in too much pain to sit?) Jinyung comes to see him, but now he seems more self conscious since he knows they come from different classes. This is what she feared would happen and she just wants to go back to how things were before between them.
And now finally for a comic interlude. It’s been pretty heavy so far this episode with everything focusing on Kwanghyun’s punishment. The queen mother is pleased with the list of prospective families compiled for the princess. The queen mother intends to let the princess choose the man she wants to marry (from this list).
But the princess has other ideas. She has heard about Kwanghyun and rushes to see him with gifts – much to the horror of her lady-in-waiting. She arrives at his humble home and is genuinely surprised that he lives in such a small and simple house. She mutters that she should buy him a new house! The lady-in-waiting can only roll her eyes in dismay!
Kibae doesn’t know she is the princess until Jabong addresses her as -???? ?? (kong-ju mama; ?? kong-ju means princess) She bumps into Jinyung at the house too but thinks Jinyung is only there on the princess’ behalf. (I feel a love triangle coming on…)
Kwanghyun can’t believe that the princess has come to visit him and tries to stand up but she pulls him down telling him to rest. So cute. Satisfied that she has seen him, she leaves the house but she’s mad at the audacity of the man who dared to beat her beloved Kwanghyun. She orders who ever was responsible to be dealt with. (Now come on, it’s not the poor guard’s fault, is it?)
Despite the problems Dr Ko is having over the Kwanghyun incident, he is still going ahead with the reforms for selecting new recruits for the clinic. There is word that the doctors are turning against Dr Ko though and this is music to Myunghwan’s ears.
And finally for some good news: over at the clinic the patient has regained consciousness. Dr Ko rushes over to the patient’s bedside to confirm that he is on the mend. Kwanghyun cries tears of joy when he hears the news. Of course Myunghwan is not pleased to hear about the patient’s recovery.
The officials are gathering to discuss Dr Ko’s reform plans for the entrance exam when the king turns up. He wants to sit in on the meeting. Good timing ha ha. But Myunghwan looks annoyed. (Why is Myunghwan so against the reforms when he comes from the lower classes himself? Why doesn’t he want the entrance exams to be open to all? His father, a horse doctor, always told him to stay away form the horses because he was destined for greater things – to be a doctor. Is this why he has prejudice against horse doctors and the lower classes?)
Kwanghyun thinks his days in medicine are over and he turns up at the clinic merely to collect his belongings. The other young vets look guilty and tell him that for some reason Myunghwan et al were involved in his investigation and punishment. But they don’t know why.
Then Dr Ko calls Kwanghyun in to see him. After confirming that Kwanghyun can read Chinese characters Dr Ko gives him all the texts he needs to study for the medical entrance exam! Kwanghyun is speechless – he hadn’t even considered this possibility. But he takes the books. There’s good news for Jinyung too when she hears that she can return to the clinic from the stables. It looks like Inju has finally accepted her as a serious nurse.
Jinyung pays Kwanghyun a visit at his house but he’s out. She finds him sitting thoughtfully outside on a step. He’s been waiting for her. He tells her he wants to be a doctor. Aah, he was waiting for her to tell her this. That’s cute.
Wow well it feels like a very long space of time was covered in a very short episode. Am I the only one who feels that the pace of the storyline is speeding along too quickly? For example, in this episode Kwanghyun gets put in prison, beaten to the point of near death, and then makes a full recovery! And then decides that he is going to be a doctor. It all happens so fast that I don’t have time to even begin to worry for him. His wounds can’t be that bad since they seem to heal overnight. Surely he shouldn’t be able to walk or sit properly for AGES.
While he was festering in prison we could have found out more about what Myunghwan is doing or thinking. WHY is he so keen to be the head of the clinic at all costs? He just wants power? Is that it? Even when it causes so much pain to Jinyung? We never see him doing anything good such as treating patients – he’s always just plotting with Lord Jung. In Dong Yi, we could argue that the baddie – Jang Hee Bin – was so compelling because she did evil things for many clear reasons – one reason was to protect her son’s right to the throne. Another was through jealousy of Dong Yi’s relationship with the king. She felt that she was doing the right thing and so she was a lot more complicated.
Our baddie here – Myunghwan – has become a bit two dimensional for me. At the beginning, we learnt a lot about his background and how his father basically told him to look down on horse vets as he was to become a great doctor himself. And we learnt how he was forced into participating in the murder of the crown prince. And we know that he felt responsible for the death of his friend after that. Then he killed the other doctor who took part in the murder to stop him being able to identify him. But now suddenly he is just milling around in the background.
Myunghwan and the other power hungry officials are managing to cause a lot of trouble, but they don’t have much screen time. Their scenes are very short – the occasional grunt from Myunghwan or cunning plan from Lord Jung – and that’s it. It feels like Myunghwan’s role has become a lot smaller suddenly which is weakening the impact of the story for me.
Kwanghyun prepares for the medical exam with Jinyung’s help. Officially the rules may have changed but that doesn’t mean that the aristocrats have to like or accept the new rules and it looks like Kwanghyun is not going to have an easy time. Passing the medical exam may only be the beginning of his problems!
Sungha sees Jinyung talking to Kwanghyun AGAIN. And he’s not happy about it. But he persuades himself that she’s just spending time with him because he reminds her of her old childhood friend since they both have the same name. (Poor Sungha) But he can’t possibly BE her childhood friend since he is dead, isn’t he?
Kwanghyun gets a mixed reaction when he tells everyone that he intends to take the medical exam. Jinyung is surprised but determined to help him. Jabong on the other hand can’t believe that a horse doctor could ever be accepted. They might say that everyone has a chance, but do they really?
The princess is busy in the royal kitchen trying to cook eggs. She’s clearly not a good cook but keeps trying again and again but her lady-in-waiting rolls her eyes in despair when the princess says WHO she wants to cook the eggs for! The atmosphere turns tense when the queen mother turns up though. What on earth is the princess doing in the kitchen, she demands to know? And the princess is immediately summoned to the queen mother’s quarters.
The QM can smell a rat and wants to know what’s going on. And if she isn’t told soon the lady-in-waiting is going to be taken away and tortured to find out the truth! (Now that’s a bit extreme, isn’t it? She was only trying to cook eggs.) Jinyung is summoned too as the queen mother trusts her to tell the truth.
Jinyung manages to think up some good reasons to explain the strange behaviour WITHOUT mentioning the horse doctor! She tells the queen mother that the princess was merely worried about her cooking for her future marriage and wanted to practise (not a total lie, although she will hardly be expected to slave over the kitchen sink when she gets married.)
Lots of men turn up to take the medical exam. But they come from respectable hospitals. When Kwanghyun arrives and announces himself as a mere horse doctor there is uproar.
Of course at this very moment Myunghwan arrives with his entourage and he too is horrified to see Kwanghyun applying for the exam. Kwanghyun points out that he is perfectly at liberty to take the test since the rules have changed. Myunghwan goes running to complain to Dr Ko annoyed that any Tom, Dick, or Harry can now apply for the exam.
But Dr Ko loves winding Myunghwan up and points out that Kwanghyun wouldn’t be the first doctor who had also treated animals! Myunghwan thinks back to when he first joined the hospital and how the others teased HIM for being a horse doctor. He was never a horse doctor though although his father was. And Dr Ko knows this. At the time Dr Ko promised to keep Myunghwan’s “secret” but now Myunghwan takes Dr Ko’s words as a threat.
Kwanghyun tries to buy books on medicine but in the store other candidates recognise him and turn on him appalled that a horse doctor would dare to apply to do real medicine. (It’s interesting how threatened the upper classes are when someone tries to enter their world.) Kwanghyun stands up for himself grabbing the pompous yangban’s wrist and demanding an apology. But more men arrive and they all set upon him beating him when Jinyung steps in to the rescue.
The other candidates may not want him to pass but Kwanghyun has a lot of help from other aristocrats. In the lead up to the exam Jinyung spends a lot of time helping him study. And the princess sends him herbs to help clear his mind now she knows he wants to be a doctor. So cute.
Jinyung is working so hard too that one night she dozes off. Kwanghyun lays her down with a pillow and duvet cover (I like how he smells the duvet first!) and she sleeps while he continues to study. But he seems to lose focus a bit when he watches her sleep. :)
Finally the day of the test arrives. Dr Ko and Myunghwan arrive to observe and the test questions are revealed on scrolls. At first Kwanghyun looks worried and he is the last to start writing. Myunghwan looks smug – pleased that Kwanghyun is struggling. And Kwanghyun is also one of the last to finish when the gong goes off. But actually he’s pleased because the worksheets Jinyung prepared for him covered the answer for the test.
Jabong comes rushing home to announce that the results are out. Did he see Kwanghyun’s name on the list? NO he says. Kwanghyun looks disappointed until they realise that Jamong can’t read. Duh! So Kwanghyun rushes down to see for himself and of course he has passed.
But Dr Ko’s reforms are not going down well with Lord Jung who realises that the king is clearly on Dr Ko’s side so they need someone on their side. And that someone will be the queen mother since she has a strong influence over the king. Sure enough the queen mother heads over to see the king.
Kwanghyun has passed the written part of the medical test but now he has to pass the practical too. He practices his acupuncture on a pillow until Jinyung borrows a acupuncture dummy from the hospital. Sungha catches her on her way to see Kwanghyun and asks why she’s always ‘hanging around’ the horse doctor. Inju happens to be nearby and overhears their conversation and is shocked to discover the horse doctor’s name …
Jinyung leaves Kwanghyun to practise on the dummy but when she returns a few minutes later he’s managed to find every pressure point correctly. And they haven’t even started practising yet!
I think it’s interesting in this episode to see the strict rules and conventions in the Joseon class system. People could not usually move up a class. (Although ironically Myunghwan seems to have managed to do so) If you were born a peasant then you died a peasant. So now even though the rules have changed – opening up the medical exam to all, not just the elite – this is hard to swallow for the yangban as they think the lower classes should ‘know their place’. The yangban believe that THEY are the ONLY ones who have the right to enter the exam and a mere horse doctor has no business trying to take it. It’s a class issue because only yangban were considered good enough to become doctors and treat people and they would never lower themselves to look after animals.
It becomes clear that Kwanghyun was born to be a doctor. He has a natural gift. But Myunghwan gets more and more frustrated when he hears about Kwanghyun’ success. And outraged to discover that Jinyung has been helping him pass the medical test. Myunghwan believes that Kwanghyun is a peasant and has no business even dreaming of becoming a doctor and so he is determined to teach him a lesson so that he will know his place once and for all.
Kwanghyun manages to put all the needles into the correct places on the practice dummy even though this is the first time he has used a dummy! Jinyung wonders how on earth managed that. He humbly apologises wondering if he has done something wrong. He says, ?? ?? ? ??? ??(??) ???(??) ???? …’I was just curious to see if the mercury came out or not ‘… (I would be wondering the exact same thing if i could get a hold of one of those dummies) Still in shock at his skills Jinyung tests him and he manages to put the needles in the correct spot every time.
Over to Inju and the mood changes to sorrowful music with her thoughtful expression under burning red autumn maple leaves. She is pondering the fate of the young boy Baek Kwanghyun who she searched for for years. But she still can’t believe that she may have found him here right under her nose! Just then Jinyung comes racing over to ask her to come and see Kwanghyun’s skills. They both watch in awe. Especially when he confirms that this is indeed the first time he has used the acupuncture practice dummy (?????)
Kwanghyun has only been studying the theory of human anatomy for a month too. Inju asks Kwanghyun to step outside for a moment and he does so turning their shoes to face outwards as he goes (this is polite thing to do for guests). He recognises that they are surprised because he is doing so well and this pleases him.
Inju realises that he is a natural. He must have been born with the skills. Meanwhile Dr Ko looks over Kwanghyun’s test results too and seems to be thinking the exact same thing.
The Queen Mother is unwell. Myunghwan and the nurse are there seeing to her and note that she has an irregular pulse. Caused by the stress of Myunghwan and Lord Jung stirring things up no doubt. Lord Jung arrives and she admits that she is not happy about Dr Ko’s appointment as he has too much influence over the king since the king is still new to politics. She thinks it’s time for her to step in. (Oh dear) Lord Jung looks pleased. Meanwhile Dr Ko is summoned to the King. The king is in a predicament because he doesn’t want to do as his mother wishes but he also doesn’t want to disobey her either. So he encourages Dr Ko to carry out his wishes for him.
Now for some fun. (I’ll do a manga scene of this later) Princess Sukwui has sent her long suffering guard out to find a good luck charm for Kwanghyun. The poor guard decides that ladies underwear would be the luckiest charm. (WHY WHY WHY?) He climbs over a wall into a family home and grabs the ‘bloomers’ off the washing line. But the young agashi of the house arrives to catch him and in a tizzy she starts throwing anything she can find at him. So he simply grabs the garment and flees.
Kwanghyun rushes to a meeting about the second part of the medical test. The candidates all line up. There are yangban wearing fine silks and less finely dressed but well-groomed candidates. No one is as scruffy as Kwanghyun with his tatty clothes and unkempt hair. At least all the others are wearing hats and have their hair well-groomed. The yangban snobs mutter to themselves when they see Kwanghyun arrive but he is undeterred. They try to bully him – complaining that he smells of horse manure. But Kwanghyun calmly reminds them that he got a better grade on the first test!
Only one of the other candidates, Baek Daemang, is friendly towards Kwanghyun. He is an outcast from the group too as he is not from a posh doctor’s background either. But his mother is the owner of the popular restaurant in the town so he’s not poor. Just from new money. Daemang tells Kwanghyun about some of the other candidates – the haughty nobleman Yun Taeju came top of the class. And clearly believes he will come top again. But when Daemang tells his mother that he has brought a horse doctor back for dinner she is angry with him – she wants him mingling with yangban not peasants! While they are there Sungha turns up too with his friends. Sungha congratulates Kwanghyun on passing the first part of the test. (Poor Sungha he is too nice)
Myunghwan hears from his guard Kang that Kwanghyun has the same name as the young boy they supposedly killed all those years ago. Although they are sure he is not the SAME boy, Myunghwan doesn’t want him hanging around Jinyung. They must do something about this …
Jinyung helps Kwanghyun learn his pressure points on the acupuncture practice dummy. She explains the grading system for the pressure points – more difficult points get more marks. But they will focus on the easier ones to be sure of getting the marks. It looks like he’s a natural as he manages to hit the exact spot every time and mercury oozes out of the dummy. Looks like he will pass the test.
Inju has been thinking things over and decides that with his doctor’s skills Kwanghyun MUST be the one she has been looking for all these years after all. He even looks like his father Dojun. She anounces she will take some time off and rushes off into the town. (I don’t know why she knocks into another lady walking along the path though. There’s plenty of room for both of them there. no need for that!)
Jabong offers to be Kwanghyun’s ?? (errand boy/assistant) as all the doctors have them. But Kwanghyun just laughs it off. But their conversation is halted when a court lady arrives to summon Kwanghyun to the palace.
Meanwhile the long suffering guard has brought the underwear to Princess Sukhui. It’s all wrapped up in silk cloth. But Kwanghyun arrives and the guard is hastily dismissed before he gets a change to tell the princess WHAT he actually has brought! So the princess has no clue. We see a range of emotions now! The lady-in-waiting greets Kwanghyun with a resigned expression. The guard looks bewildered as though he is not sure if he has done the right thing or not. (NOT!) Kwanghyun looks nervous on his best behaviour and the princess looks excited to see him. (They are all so cute but this is the comedy interlude before Kwanghyun’s luck changes)
The guard’s odd behaviour leads the lady-in-waiting to come over and ask him what’s wrong. And he tells her what he took from the washing line. :) The lady-in-waiting is shocked and rushes towards the princess’ quarters screaming her name. ha ha ha
At that moment the princess is telling Kwanghyun that she has got him a good luck gift for his medical exam. He is delighted and asks if he may open it. They both stare at the item as Kwanghyun holds up the undergarment in bewilderment. The princess finally realises what it is and is mortified. At that moment the lady in waiting comes FLYING into the room and slides across the floor on her belly wrestling the item from Kwanghyun and covering it with her body. Petticoats everywhere. She hastily explains it was the wrong present! (OMG That was funny.)
But things are not so jolly with Myunghwan. He calls Jinyung in for a serious chat. She is not to see the horse doctor anymore and she is grounded for the time being too. Jinyung begs him to change his mind but he is adamant.
Kwanghyun walks home in a jolly mood after the whole underwear incident. But the laughter stops when he is surrounded by some dodgy characters. He tries to fight back but there are too many of them and they overpower him, and he is carried away in a fireman’s lift. (when someone is sick they are taken to the hospital in a piggy back. But when they are taken hostage they are given a fireman’s lift!)
Of course this is Myunghwan’s doing and Guard Kang appears looking menacing. Kwanghyun is forced to hold his arm out on a slab and Guard Kang beats the hell out of it with a big stick. (at least he didn’t cut his arm off!) The excuse is that they are doing this to remind Kwanghyun of his place – a man like him should not be a doctor or spend time with a noble woman like Jinyung. But it’s his right hand too and the acupuncture test is tomorrow. Kwanghyun screams in agony.
Kidae and Jabong are waiting for Kwanghyun at home. Kidae is like a worried father and goes off searching for him. He finds him collapsed on his way home.
Sungha has realised something is going on and confronts Myunghwan but Myunghwan turns on him too – he is supposed to be marrying Jinyung so why is he allowing her to spend time with a horse doctor? (Because he’s s nice guy, that’s why) Then when he sees Guard Kang arriving back with his men he questions him about where he’s been. Kang hesitates and looks guilty.
The doctor arrives to see Kwanghyun but he doesn’t seem very helpful or sympathetic! He tells him that there is no way he will be able to take the medical exam tomorrow. But Kwanghyun cries with despair – he MUST take the exam no matter what.
The following day practice dummies and acupuncture needles are laid out for the exam. The candidates wait nervously to enter the grounds. But Kwanghyun is still at home. He takes off the splint and holding his bad arm he rushes off to the exam. But all the candidates are sitting at their places ready to start the test. Dr Ko arrives and looks disappointed when he sees that Kwanghyun is not there. But just as the exam begins Kwanghyun comes running in.
The test starts but Kwanghyun is clearly in a lot of pain. Daebang is sitting on one side of him and Dr Ko’s son is on the other. But they both notice that there is something wrong with Kwanghyun – he’s groaning and bleeding. The task for the test is revealed on the scrolls and everyone starts. As planned Kwanghyun starts with the easy points but realises that he can’t do a lot. He is in too much pain. He decides that he will just do the advanced points – the red ones – which get more marks. If he can just do them then he will pass. It’s a risk and that’s why the others all do the easier points. But Kwanghyun has no choice.
Everyone stops to see him do this difficult task (they are all going to fail at this rate as they are only watching him!). Nobody can believe it. He only needs to insert 7 needles to pass and now he reaches for the final needle. But he’s running out of time. Jinhyung has heard from Sungha what happened and tries to go and see him but Myunghwan’s men stop her. Myunghwan arrives and watches in horror as it looks like Kwanghyun will achieve the impossible. But there is no time left. ‘Time is up. Time is up’ he yells demanding that the exam be stopped. Everything turns to slow motion. Kwanghyun is holding the final needle but he is shaking. Can he really do it. The gong is about to go off …..
Well, I went through so many emotions in this episode – more than any other episode so far. I found the acting a little dodgy at the beginning when Kwanghyun tries to look surprised at Jinhung’s reaction or at least humble after managing to put all the needles in the acupuncture dummy correctly. But I laughed out loud at the princess and the underwear scene – I love all the comedy between Kwanghyun and the princess. Then I found myself covering my eyes in horror when he gets his arm battered with the stick. And then I was relieved that at least his arm wasn’t cut off. Then I was shouting at the screen at Myunghwan when he tried to get the exam stopped – ok so time was up. And finally I was excited in the race against time for Kwanghyun – can he put the last needle in the dummy in time??
So now I am quite exhausted. YES. This is what sageuk is all about! Finally I’m starting to feel more involved like I must see the next episode right NOW – or at least after I finish writing this …
Kwanghyun becomes an apprentice at the clinic but that doesn’t mean that the other doctors accept him as an equal. Even the teacher looks down on him for being a peasant. But it’s not just his social class that is a problem. Kwanghyun discovers that although he has technical skills there is still a lot that he doesn’t know about treating patients. On the other hand star student Yun Taeju, can’t put a foot wrong and is set to become teacher’s pet.
While Kwanghyun is trying to finish the medical exam, Jinyung pulls rank on the poor servants trying to guard her and rushes off to see him. She knows something has happened but not what exactly. Kwanghyun picks up the final needle. He’s in agony. As he struggles, he thinks back over all he has been through from the beating at the prison to the attack by Guard Kang, but he also remembers the support he’s had from Jinyung. And he manages to place the final needle perfectly just as the gong goes off. Myunghwan can’t believe it. :)
But there is no time for celebration. The doctors realise that Kwanghyun is in a bad way and he is given a piggy back to the hospital. He has a deep cut to the bone and they have to stop the bleeding. Jinyung arrives to see him and is happy to hear that he passed the test although she’s worried about his condition. Meanwhile Myunghwan ponders his next move grrr.
Jinyung recommends some medicine??? (samchilgun) but it’s difficult to find in Joseon. She must take a boat to Uiju to get it, so the princess gives her her ID seal?? (pyo-shin) to show that she is on official business from the palace and sends her guard with Jinyung too. Meanwhile Dr Ko prepares to stab Kwanghyun’s swollen arm with a thick three-sided needle (that looks like a Philips screwdriver!) to remove the dead blood. Looks grim.
At her restaurant, Daebang’s wannabe mother celebrates her son passing the medical entrance exam. But the restaurant chef is away cooking jon with Kibae and Jabong outside their humble house for Kwanghyun. They’ve noticed that Jinyung does’t come around any more …
Myunghwan looks Jinyung in the eye and assures her that he had nothing to do with Kwanghyun’s injury. (He’s a good liar. But he has had lots of practice.) Sungha tackles Guard Kang over what he did and demands he never do anything like that again – but isn’t Kang under Myunghwan’s orders? The king has heard about the amazing horse doctor too and Dr Ko thinks he will be the best doctor in the country.
Kwanghyun’s cut is healing (but the cut looks a lot higher up his arm than it did at the beginning). Once released from hospital he goes to see Guard Kang. He wants to stand up to him and respond to his threat – know your place or else …..
Myunghwan seems to resent Kwanghyun because he is not ashamed of his background. He is confident and assured even though he is a chonin (peasant). Kwanghyun is proud and determined to show what he can do. Myunghwan was very different when he was young. He thinks back to when he first joined the hospital. He was told not to tell anyone about his background and he followed this advice even to the point of refusing to see his father on his deathbed. He was terrified of anyone finding out where he came from. He is so weak.
Now for a cute break – Jinyung fans the cooking herbs over the fires at the clinic when a monkey appears next to her holding a tiny bunch of flowers. The flowers are from Kwanghyun who is sitting nearby. He’s noticed too that she hasn’t been to see him recently. But she doesn’t tell him why.
Kwanghyun goes to the mountain to carry out ancestral rites?? (chae-sa) for his father. He promises to be a good doctor remembering how his dad always nagged him to study years ago.
Dr Ko hands out certificates to the new apprentices at the clinic. Yun Taeju’s name is called first again.
Inju is back at the horse ranch searching for info on Kwanghyun. But there is no evidence of his name in the government records of slaves so she is giving up hope.
The princess goes to see the QM and tries to make excuses as to why she can’t get married yet. She can’t cook etc etc. She has bought some time and looks pretty pleased with herself. But then she tells her long suffering lady-in-waiting WHY she is putting off getting married: Once Kwanghyun becomes a royal physician???? he will be considered a nobleman (I’ll write more about the ranking system for officials later) and able to marry her! So far she has called him Baek Ma-ui, Horse Doctor Baek. But she corrects herself now- he is Baek ui-seng: Dr Baek. This means he is already working his way up the ranks. The lady-in-waiting can only shake her head in despair.
Over at the clinic classes are starting. But the teacher??? Kwon Sokcheol is no push over – quite a scary guy and with no introduction to the course he simply marches the students over to the welfare clinic straight away to give them their first task – diagnose the patients. But first he tells them that half of them will fail the course. (it’s like the marines of the medical world.)
The other doctors rush off to begin – they only have 7 minutes to complete the task – but Kwanghyun just stands there not knowing what to do. He’s not used to talking to his patients as he has only ever treated animals – bless. But with the teacher breathing down his neck he hurries over to a patient to ‘diagnose’ his illness. Kwanghyun asks the patient what’s wrong. The patient replies he has stomach ache. Very bad stomach ache. Kwanghyun dutifully writes this down and is about to walk away when the patient asks – is that it? is that all you are going to ask? So Kwanghyun tries to think of other things to ask. Where do you live? That’s very far, isn’t it? You must be hungry? (Could that be the cause of his stomach ache!:)) The old man came on a donkey from his home and Kwanghyun ends up asking more about the animal than about the old man! (love this scene and the funny music)
Time is up and the papers are collected in. The teacher flicks through the answers until he reaches Dr Smarty Pants Yun who gives an impressive answer to the task having followed the four steps to complete a thorough diagnosis:
???? = ?? ?? ?? ??? ???? ?? ??
mang-mun-mun-cheol = look, listen, ask, touch; the way to make a diagnosis
Not only does he recite a detailed list of symptoms but he goes on to suggest the treatment for the patient. Kwanghyun is speechless. The teacher is pleased.
But then the teach flicks through more papers till he reaches Kwanghun. (Oh dear). He reads out what Kwanghyun wrote “He has stomach-ache. Very bad stomach ache.” the class laughs. Kwanghyun is humiliated. But the teacher is angry. And what’s worse Kwangyun is to be demoted because he clearly doesn’t even know the basics of treating patients so he must spend time with the nurses and let them teach him. The nurses are shocked. But the teacher says that Kwanghyun is only a peasant anyway so it doesn’t matter if he spends time with them! Charming. That teacher is such a snob. The students are dismissed. (Well that was a short class. They only had one 7 minute task!)
Sungha is introduced to the king who congratulates him on coming top of his class in the government exam. He will work in administration of the medical facilities.
Jinyung hears about Kwanghun’s demotion and is worried that he will be down about that. But then she hears him laughing and joking and FLIRTING with a group of nurses. She storms off and he teases her that she is jealous but then admits that he is embarrassed about what happened.
The teacher calls Kwanghyun away from his duties at the clinic to complete a task – carry a gift to Sungha who is celebrating with his friends. It must be some sort of bribe as the teacher tells Sungha that he has heard about his new job in administration. But Sungha does not look comfortable receiving the gift and looks even more displeased when he notices that Kwanghyun is carrying the load. ‘Do you always make your students act like slaves?’ he asks. The teacher tries to point out that Kwanghyun is just a chonin – a peasant. ‘No he is a doctor’, Sungha replies. (Sungha is such a man of integrity. What is he going to say when he discovers what his father is really like?) That did not go as well as the teacher had planned!
But one of Sungha’s friends seems interested to hear that Kwanghyun is a doctor and chases after him when he leaves. He wants him to look after his sister who is not well- but he wants to keep this a secret. Kwanghyun explains that he is originally a horse doctor and has not treated people before. The Yangban is disgusted! But suddenly there’s a scream and we find the yangban’s sister in her room but she is not breathing. Kwanghyun must save the day again. There’s no one else…
Well, we can see why Myunghwan kept his background a secret. It takes a strong character to put up with all the bullying that Kwangyhyun has to endure because of his low class. And it is probably only just starting.
My favourite scenes in this episode:
1. The diagnosis :) Kwanghyun has NO CLUE how to speak to the patients and I really felt his embarrassment when the teacher read out his rather simple answer! It sounded like something written by an elementary school student. ha ha. But the teacher is so unpleasant. He is such a snob sucking up to Yun Taeju because his father was the previous head of the clinic. And then he tries to suck up to Sungha too. But that doesn’t work …
2. The teacher tries to ingratiate himself with Sungha by bringing a lavish gift. But rather than getting one of the workers to carry the load the teacher seems to want to humiliate Kwanghyun or not let him forget that he is a peasant. The teacher’s smug face falls however when Sungha recognises Kwanghyun and demands to know why he is using student doctors as slaves. Good! I’m glad Sungha puts the teacher in his place for once.
3. The cute little monkey scene. Just because. Awww.
Kwanghyun starts this episode with a sword to his throat and ends locked up in the morgue! It’s all go. And it’s all because of the bullies at the clinic who still have a problem with Kwanghyun’s background. But ironically the bullies are actually helping him because thanks to them, Kwanghyun is thrown into situations where he has to practise his skills in medicine. First his teacher treats him as a servant (since he is only a commoner) which leads Kwanghyun to meet and save a young woman who tried to commit suicide. And then his fellow students lock him up in the morgue where he discovers that one of the ‘dead’ patients is still ALIVE …..
The yangban threatens Kwanghyun by holding a sword to his throat. If he wants to live he must save the man’s sister! Desperately Kwanghyun tries to find the young woman’s pulse. But can’t work out if there is one or not! He tries to think back to his studies with Jinyung on how to treat critical patients after strangulation. He remembers that if the pit of the stomach (solar plexus??) is still warm there is a chance that the patient can be saved.
Then Kwanghyun leaps into action shouting orders at the yangban for?? (sei-shin) a medicine to relax the bronchial tubes and get the heart going again. And he wants Jinyung fetched from the clinic. Then he puts cotton in the patient’s nostrils and ears and opens her handbok to prepare to start CPR. But he hesitates. He’s never done this before. (HURRY UP!) Finally he begins CPR and keeps going until the young woman takes a breath. Kwanghyun continues with the CPR but the patient’s brother comes back with the medicine and seeing Kwanghyun on top of his sister with her hanbok undone he leaps on Kwanghyun pulling him away from her. (You are NOT helping, Mr. Yangban)
The horse doctor speech has clearly made the yangban lose confidence in Kwanghyun! And his actions are not helping the situation. So Kwanghyun then tries to feed the patient the medicine, but she is not responding. He takes her pulse again but again the brother grabs him demanding to know what’s going on. (Duh! He’s irritating – the actor Yun Hee Suk also played the baddie in the recently aired daily morning drama An Angle’s Choice which I really enjoyed. I recommend this drama if you like a bit of melodrama and shouting at the TV/computer screen :) No English subs but quite easy to follow and good for Korean study)
At last Jinyung arrives and takes over the situation. She takes the cotton out of the patient’s nose and dabs some medicine under her nostrils and then blows it up her nose. Immediately the patient coughs. Looks like she is going to be all right. (phew!;)) The Yangban is very grateful and promises to help Kwanghyun if he is ever in trouble – and it’s VERY LIKELY that at some point he WILL be in trouble and need his help!
Meanwhile Inju thinks back to her conversation with Kidae. Kidae thinks he is protecting Kwanghyun by not revealing his past to Inju. He simply repeats that Kwanghyun WAS born on the ranch. But Inju is convinced that Kidae is not telling the truth.
Kwanghyun goes to see Eunso, the patient he saved, only to hear screams coming from her room again! He rushes in to find that she has tried to slash her wrists and her poor maid is trying to stop her again. Eunso is NOT grateful to Kwanghyun for saving her life. In fact she’s angry with him and curses him. She wanted to die and follow her husband – now she must endure gossip from the neighbours. Kwanghyun bandages up her wrist and sends the maid for medicinal herbs to stop the bleeding. He tells her that no one has ever thanked him for saving their life – since animals can’t speak – so he wasn’t expecting her to thank him. But he can see in her eyes that she wants to live despite what she says.
Myunghwan takes a gift to Lord Jung for his son’s marriage. They discuss Sungha and Jinyung who Myunghwan expects will marry soon. Meanwhile at the restaurant Jinyung hears from Daebang’s mother that she is expected to marry Sungha. But this is news to her – although EVERYONE ELSE knows! Myunghwan and Sungha discuss the marriage too. But Sungha doesn’t want to rush things if Jinyung isn’t ready. Ahhh.
Later Jinyung bumps into Sungha at the house and they discuss the rumours of their upcoming marriage. Jinyung says she has never thought of Sungha in a romantic way before – she sees him as a brother. He looks disappointed and admits he has thought about her (romantically) for years. Poor Sungha. But he says he will not force the marriage if she doesn’t feel the same way. After she retires to her room he sits alone in the rain thinking about their time growing up together. Ahh. He wonders how she could not have realised how he felt. (I am wondering the same thing- although the situation is a bit odd)
Kidae and the others are waiting for Kwanghyun to come home. They are worried about him as usual. Then Kidae tells him that Inju has been fishing around into his past and knows who he is. They don’t know exactly what his father did but they know it was treasonous so they beg Kwanghyun to quit the hospital and leave before he gets discovered. But he can’t give up. Not after all this.
Myunghwan orders Guard Kang to keep an eye on Kwanghyun and report his every move. Grrr
The princess has decided that she needs an excuse to see her beloved doctor so she comes up with a cunning plan – to go outside without her coat on and catch a cold. Her court ladies have to suffer outside too as she swings trying to get the cold wind to make her sick!
Eunso thinks back to what Kwanghyun said to her about life. She decides to go and see him. But great minds think alike and the princess is also on her way and arrives at the clinic in a palanquin pleased that she has caught a cold and needs to be seen by Dr Baek. But she is told that Kwanghyun is unavailable today. Then Eunso arrives and is told the same thing. The princess eyes the yangban lady suspiciously – it seems she doesn’t like having a rival (The princess calls Kwanghyun?? ? ?? uri Baek ui-seng, Our Doctor Baek, how cute. :) )
But while Kwanghyun is winning over the ladies, inside the clinic the other male students are not so impressed and enjoy teasing him again saying he smells of horse manure. The doctors are told of the important test coming up which will decide who will be selected to stay as doctors! But Kwanghyun knows nothing about this test and doesn’t even have the right books to study! Duh!
Kwanghyun is back trying to diagnose patients. (Oh dear) He still has no confidence but tries his best. His patient seems spaced out and can’t explain his symptoms. Kwanghyun looks at a loss when Taeju who overhears the conversation, rushes over pushing Kwanghyun out of the way and hurriedly checking the patient’s pulse. He knows what questions to ask and calls a nurse over insisting that the patient be hospitalised IMMEDIATELY. He doesn’t even look at Kwanghyun clearly convinced that he is incompetent.
A senior doctor is called to the patient and he confirms Taeju’s diagnosis – the patient is having a brain haemorrhage and right on cue the patient passes out. Kwanghyun can’t believe this because the patient didn’t seem that sick. He rushes after Taeju wanting to know what will happen. He will die, he says without emotion. There is treatment for this but it’s too late. He can’t resist adding what he thinks about Kwanghyun – that he is a liability and he is proving that a horse doctor can never have the skills to become a doctor.
The body is carried away on a stretcher to the morgue and Kwanghyun is upset about his shortcomings – he can do acupuncture, but there is so much else he can’t do. What if the patient had come earlier but he had not been able to diagnose him properly? Jinyung tries to comfort him telling him of her own experiences of making a mis-diagnosis. She tells him that the answer is simple- study hard and don’t make mistakes. She tries to cheer him up and they play fight. But just at that moment Sungha happens to walk by and see them. He looks sad. Oh. :(
It’s late at the clinic but Kwanghyun is still there studying herbs for the test. One of the other students comes in and tells him that his friend Daebang is looking for him in one of the other rooms, so Kwanghyun goes to find him. (Don’t go Kwanghyun, it’s a trap) But after he enters the room, the door is locked behind him. Outside the door, the two nasty bully students giggle to each other and hurry away sure that Kwanghyun will fail the test tomorrow since he won’t even be able to get there… When Daebang comes looking for Kwanghyun he is nowhere to be found.
Kwanghyun realises that he is in the morgue. (Yikes) And dead bodies covered in sheets are lying all around the room. He freaks out and starts banging on the door and then pulling at the wooden window bars. But it’s no use; he’s locked in. Desperate to get out of there, he climbs up to try to break open the window but falls back grabbing onto the hand of a corpse. Ahhh. The hand flops out from under the sheet and then the body groans. It’s creepy and at first Kwanghyun leaps back in horror, but then he realises that the patient who had the brain haemorrhage is still alive!
Kwanghyun remembers what Taeju told him about the treatment for a brain haemorrhage and nervously he gets his needles out. He tries to remember what to do…
Morning comes and the students get ready for their test. The baddies laugh as they notice Kwanghyun’s empty seat. Daebang points out that Kwanghyun is missing but of course the teacher doesn’t care. Afterwards Jinyung hears that Kwanghun wasn’t at the test and goes to find him. Catching the two baddies laughing to themselves she demands that they tell her where he is. At first one of them is rude to her speaking down to her in?? (pan-mal – familiar speech form). But when the other whispers that she is Myunghwan’s daughter he suddenly becomes very polite and hurries to show her where Kwanghun is! (I thought Jinyung didn’t want anyone knowing her background! It’s useful at times like this though:))
They open the door to the morgue and find Kwanghyun slumped over the body asleep. But when they wake him up, he announces to everyone’s surprise that the patient is still alive!
***
It’s funny that there are more and more upper class women falling over themselves to see Kwanghyun and they can’t do enough to help him. He gets help from Jinyung and the princess and now another yangban lady has entered the picture. So are we going to see a rivalry building between Eunso and the princess? Hope so.
I started off the episode feeling frustrated with the yangban – STEP AWAY from the patient FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! And what a cheeky man. First he asks for Kwanghyun’s help because he wants to keep the situation a secret, then he doesn’t want Kwanghyun’s help because he doesn’t like the idea that he is ONLY a horse doctor – this seems to disgust him. And then he threatens to KILL Kwanghyun if he doesn’t save his sister. GRRRRRR. He’s got a nerve.
I feel sorry for Sungha because he obviously cares deeply for Jinyung. But am I the only one who thinks that the idea of him marrying Jinyung is a bit odd? They have grown up together since they were children and so surely she is more like a sister to him. And she has not noticed that he has romantic feelings towards her? That’s odd too.
I think Sungha needs to get out more. He needs to get out and meet some more women. But I suppose Myunghwan is keen for him to marry Jinyung so that he can get his hands on her fortune. Myunghwan is in charge of looking after her assets right now but I suppose that will change when she gets married. Will he be as keen for her to marry Sungha when he realises that SHE is the one who is a peasant, NOT Kwanghyun? OH how I’m looking forward to the scene when all is revealed. But poor old Sungha would marry her anyway. Bless.
There’s always someone trying to sabotage Kwanghyun and now the baton is passed from the bully students to Kwanghyun’s own teacher! But of course behind him Myunghwan is pulling the puppet strings. Sungha has been the perfect gentleman so far but finally tells Kwanghyun what he really thinks about his relationship with Jinyung. The selection process for the doctor begins and for the practical diagnosis test Kwanghyun gets a very special patient!
Kwanghyun carries the patient out of the morgue on his back. And rumours soon spread that he has brought a corpse (?? shi-chae) back to life! The hospital is in uproar. Dr Ko hurries to see the patient and the doctor in charge has to try to explain WHY he had pronounced the patient DEAD! They realise that he must have been in a coma. Kwanghyun explains the acupuncture treatment he performed on the patient and how he used sheets (from other corpses!) and soil to warm the patient’s body in the freezing morgue – it’s winter and there are no proper windows in there. This was a trick he learnt watching pigs keep warm with mud and realised that it could work for people too! ha ha.
The bully students and Smarty Pants Taeju can’t believe what has happened. Myunghwan even wants him punished and complains to Dr Ko that Kwanghyun didn’t follow proper procedure – he is still a student after all and not qualified. But Dr Ko has guessed that Myunghwan just doesn’t like the idea of a mere horse doctor doing so well.
The teacher wants to fail Kwanghyun since he didn’t attend the exam (whilst locked in the morgue!) But Sungha has heard all about the prank and why Kwanghyun missed the test so demands he take the test again. (He’s very honourable and puts his personal feelings aside – it would be much easier for Sungha if Kwanghyun was kicked out of the clinic)
Later when Kwanghyun sees the bullies he tells them to forget about what they did – no hard feelings. And that makes them even more annoyed with him. But at least Taeju is man enough to give Kwanghyun praise when it’s due. Kwanghyun and Jinyung joke with each other again. But how long can their friendship last? Meanwhile rumours of Kwanghyun’s miracle spread around and the patient gets better.
Princess now has a cold but she’s still concerned about the yangban lady, Eunso, who went to visit Kwanghyun and she sends her guard out to find out everything about her and her connection to him. The poor guard is sitting out in the cold outside Eunso’s house when Eunso’s feisty brother, Du-shik, comes home and chases the guard away!
Meanwhile inside the house Jinyung is paying Eunso a visit. Kwanghyun realised when he was giving Eunso CPR that she has a tumour in her breast. Jinyung assures Eunso that it is treatable. Eunso goes to see Kwanghyun and tearfully thanks him for telling Jinyung about her sickness. Eunso had been too ashamed to tell anyone, but now she can get treatment.
Inju has not given up her search for Baek Kwanghyun. And now she turns her attention to his friends and has them investigated. Jinyung’s close relationship with Kwanghyun makes Inju worry about what will happen when their true identities are revealed.
Kwanghyun is trying to study but falling asleep over his books when Kibae arrives excitedly telling him that his horse Yongdal has turned up at the stables. In tears of joy Kwanghyun rushes off to be reunited.
The nurses are getting jealous that Kwanghyun only ever comes looking for Jinhyung! Their close relationship is now common knowledge. But then Kwanghyun bumps into Sungha who tells him that she is in the medical administration office. Sungha apologises for the ‘incident’ with Guard Kang. But he finally tells Kwanghyun what he really thinks – it’s fine that they work well together but Kwanghyun is a Chonin peasant and Jinyung is a yangban noble so they should not see each other outside the clinic.
Later Sungha sees the medical school’s teacher being invited in to see Myunghwan. Clearly something dodgy is being planned for the selection process. Kwanghyun is busy studying but Sungha’s words keep coming back into his mind. (His words have hit Kwanghyun hard – maybe because he knows Sungha is a decent man and is just pointing out the obvious. But I love the irony here. Because Kwanghun is actually higher up the social rank than Jinyung who is a chonin and Sungha whose father Myunghwan was a chonin too. :) ) So when Jinyung comes looking for Kwanghyun he is cold towards her aware of their inappropriate relationship – but she just puts this down to exam nerves.
The exam begins. The first part is a spoken test where the students pick a question from a box and must answer whatever they pick – like a memorisation test. The first student, the bully, nervously tries to answer the first question but Sungha paints the hanja for fail (?) on his report. Next up is Taeju and of course he passes with flying colours (?).
Then it’s Kwanghyun’s turn. The question is picked and read out. What’s the matter? Can’t you answer? the teacher asks happily. But Kwanghun says he can do it. But we don’t see the judge’s mark. Neither Kwanghyun nor Daebang feel confident after the exam.
The next phase is the practical exam and that will be done in pairs – one patient per pair – that way they can see which diagnosis is better. Daebang and Kwanghyun want to be paired with each other – they obviously don’t think much about each other’s skills!! ha ha
Inju receives info about Kwanghyun’s friend the chef. And what a coincidence – he was exiled to the exact same island that Kwanghyun was brought up on ….
Everyone is shocked to see that Kwanghyun has been paired with Taeju for the practical test. Of course this was set up by the teacher and he smirks as he reads their names out convinced that Kwanghyun will fail. Taeju and Kwanghyun go to meet their patient. But when Taeju sees his patient, he falls to the ground to bow deeply - it’s the King!
Well, well, that ending was very exciting. I wasn’t expecting to see the KING. But now I’m worried for Kwanghyun because he is so direct and innocent that this will get him into trouble. Comparing the similarities of treating humans with the way he treats animals and explaining how he used soil on a patient because that’s what pigs do to keep warm is not going to fly when diagnosing the King! Watch what you say Kwangyun! Remember you need to be diplomatic. But I already see trouble ahead. And Myunghwan et al will be only too happy to see him fail …
Inju is hot on his trail now too so how long is it going to be before Kwanghyun’s true identity (and Jinyung’s true identity) is revealed? Things are certainly hotting up.
This episode focuses on the student doctors as they nervously try to diagnose their royal patients. Kwanghyun and Taeju have both been assigned to the king and Myunghwan is sure that this will finally be Kwanghyun’s (and also Dr Ko’s) downfall. The princess is excited believing that she will be diagnosed by you know who. But when two other doctors turn up, her disappointment is very clear and very funny! :)
The student doctors are all assigned members of the royal family for the practical stage of their medical exam. The king, the queen mother, the queen, and the princess are all to take part. The princess waits excitedly for Doctor Baek and checks her face in the mirror. But when Daebang and the bully Taesop arrive, she does not hide her disappointment. Daebang finds the princess adorable and cute, but the princess herself is not so happy and calls him a pig!
The king meets his doctors and he is pleased to have ace student and son of the previous hospital head, Taeju. But he is also pleased to meet Kwanghyun and admits that he has heard all about him – that he was a horse doctor, is excellent at acupuncture, and even brought a corpse back from the dead. And for the first time we see Taeju looking a little bit nervous. So he is human after all.
The royal doctors have already done a diagnosis of each royal patient and written down their recommendations. Myunghwan is in charge of the king (and for the first time in ages, we actually see him doing some real work – instead of simply scheming behind Kwanghyun’s back!) So now the students will follow with their own diagnosis. Then they will see which of the two students is closest to the professional opinion.
Meanwhile the students are stressing out over the exam. Kwanghyun gets support from his three friends, but they warn him not to take any risks – just do enough to get through the exam safely. (Wise words, but he doesn’t listen) Jinyung tries to cheer him up by teasing him and reminding him how he shouldn’t be nervous since he has already met the king. But now he has to admit that he just told her he had met the king to impress her. (He also seems to have forgotten that he was supposed to be trying to stay away from her.)
The student doctors are taken for the first time to the??? (nae ui won) Royal pharmacy where they find all kinds of medicinal herbs. The student doctors stare around in amazement, but Taeju already seems totally at home and chats with familiar faces there.
Jinyung notices that Inju seems distracted at the clinic. Inju reveals that she thinks she has found the boy she has been searching for and thought was dead. But Jinyung has no idea that she is talking about Kwanghyun!
The night before he meets the king again, Kwangyun studies late into the night while Daebang sleeps dreaming of the princess!
Taeju and Kwanghyun go to diagnose the king. Taeju goes first and starts by carefully taking the king’s pulse. The king admits that he has stomach ache and a tightness in his chest. Then it’s Kwanghyun’s turn. He seems more nervous and takes the king’s pulse with a VERY shaky hand. But the king notes that Kwanghyun asked the same question as Taeju – that must be good news! as well as noting down the king’s symptoms, the doctors must also find out everything about his daily life. And we get a glimpse into what he eats, how he cleans his teeth (with salt and a leaf – see here for an interesting article on Korean toothpastes), and what time he goes to bed.
Meanwhile Daebang is struggling with the princess. She does not want to cooperate until he happens to mention that he knows Kwanghyun. The princess changes completely when she realises that he is close friends with Kwanghyun and suddenly wants to help him. What about the other student doctor waiting for his turn to diagnose her – is he Kwanghyun’s friend too, she asks? Daebang explains that no, the other doctor is not his friend and in fact, he was the one that locked Kwanghyun in the morgue! ha ha. The princess’ face falls. (Something tells me Daebang just passed this test with flying colours!)
Then it’s Taesop’s turn to diagnose the princess. (This should be good! ;) ) But before he is allowed in, the princess tries to sabotage his diagnosis by heating her hands and face with some sort of hot cushions. And then when Taesop comes in she lies about her medical history and is VERY uncooperative and grumpy scaring Taesop half to death! (I love how she is so childish and open with her feelings)
Kwanghyun works late into the night going over the king’s symptoms. He has even looked at the king’s stools :? He notes that the colour is similar to animal samples he diagnosed… Meanwhile his teacher meets with Myunghwan and, concerned that Kwanghyun might actually do well on this test, he offers his own cunning plan on how to get rid of him. So while the students are out, the teacher sneaks into their room and goes through Kwanghyun’s things.
Sungha and Jinyung are still awkward around each other after that whole marriage business. She wants to clear the air and begins to tell him how she feels. But he stops her. He knows she sees him only as a brother but he wants to know if this has anything to do with Kwanghyun. She seems shocked. But he tells her the same as he told Kwanghyun – she can never be with Kwanghyun. (But surely if Kwanghyun becomes a doctor it’s not so impossible? As the princess pointed out?)
As part of their task to understand the king’s daily life, Kwanghyun and Taeju stand and watch as the king prepares to mount his horse to go out. As the king goes up the steps (!) to mount the horse, the horse becomes uneasy. (But why would the king’s horse do that? There was no strange noise or anything and surely the horse is used to the king riding him. It’s just an opportunity for Kwanghyun to rush forward and calm the horse down.) The king notes that it’s useful to have a horse doctor around and Taeju looks on helplessly again. As the king mounts the horse he clutches his side, but he shrugs the pain off as unimportant. But Kwanghyun seems to think this is significant and goes to see Kibae at the stables to check something.
Eunso returns to the home of her father-in-law, Lord Jung. But she only has time to greet him before Myunghwan arrives and she is invited to leave so that the men can discuss Dr Ko’s downfall…
Kwanghyun is struggling to work out the king’s sickness when Dr Ko pops in to see how he’s getting on. Kwanghyun is having some confidence issues – he’s worried that he keeps trying to compare people with animals. But Dr Ko tells him never to be ashamed that he was a horse doctor because his experience treating animals can help him and give him an advantage. (I think he is going to regret those words later. But Kwanghyun seems to feel better.)
So finally the day has arrived for the student doctors to present their findings. Taeju is invited to go first. He opens his paper and reads out his answer which (surprise surprise) is the same as Myunghwan’s professional opinion – liver problems and heartburn.
But while this is happening a copy of Myunghwan’s diagnosis ‘has been found’ in Kwanghyun’s room. He’s accused of cheating and must hand over his answer paper to the teacher. But everyone is shocked to discover that it’s BLANK. OK so he didn’t copy the answer. He explains that he couldn’t write anything because the king’s sickness is not in the textbooks. Kwanghyun believes that the king is suffering from gallstones – a sickness they haven’t seen in humans before, but he has seen cases in cattle and pigs. (Oh gulp! This is going to be BAD :o )
His diagnosis causes OUTRAGE. He is comparing THE KING to an ANIMAL! Myunghwan can’t believe his ARROGANCE. But Kwanghyun continues passionately insisting that the king must get treated ASAP before the real pain starts. But the king is not looking happy either. Even Dr Ko is disturbed. Kwanghyun is phyiscally thrown out of the King’s chamber and Dr Ko is forced to apologise much to Myunghwan’s delight.
But many of the other student doctors are pleased when they hear what happened and bully Kwanghyun again and one of them nearly gets in a fight with him. But Sungha walks in and intervenes. Kwanghyun looks humiliated – he must feel so powerless. But Kwanghyun’s supporters are mad with him – why didn’t he just say the king had heartburn or something? But Kwanghyun could never do that – he had to say what he really thought.
The council of the three medical departments??? (sam-ui-sa) meet to discuss Kwanghyun’s future. And of course his enemies want him removed from the clinic ….
Oh Kwanghyun, you are SO INNOCENT! Why did you have to go and compare THE KING to PIGS and COW?? We could see this coming though – it’s what Kwanghyun always does since animals are what he knows. So nobody should really have been shocked by what he said! Myunghwan is SUCH a HYPOCRITE and WEAKLING though. How can he complain about Kwanghyun’s background so intensely when HE comes from the same peasant class? I think Dr Ko could easily shut him up by mentioning this fact at the medical council meeting. But perhaps that would be beneath him.
I laughed a lot in this episode and I’m glad that there is so much humour continuing through this drama. It gives it a totally different vibe to the far more serious medical sageuk Heojun. The princess and her treatment of the unsuspecting young doctors was classic. And what about everyone’s faces when Kwanghyun recited his diagnosis of the king? I cringed. But still it was amusing. OK so he got kicked out of the clinic. But they’ll be begging him to come back when his diagnosis turns out to be correct, won’t they?
After Kwanghyun manages to insult the king by comparing him to an animal (!) Myunghwan sees his chance to push the peasant horse doctor out of the welfare hospital for good. And get rid of Dr Ko too. But he didn’t predict that the king might actually be sick. And Kwanghyun is soon brought back when it seems his diagnosis of the king was correct after all …
The ??? (sam-ui-sa) three departments of the medical council meet to discuss Kwanghyun’s fate. Of course Myunghwan is pushing for the harshest punishment and wants Kwanghyun thrown out of the hospital FOREVER. But Dr Ko refuses to do this. After all Kwanghyun is still only a student who just made a mistake.
But this is even better for Myunghwan as now he can turn the whole hospital against Dr Ko. And soon the trouble starts – first of all with the student doctors who walk out of class and refuse to study with Kwanghyun.
They walk out of class and only Taeju is left. Is he showing some support for Kwanghyun perhaps? No. He merely points out the facts – everyone hates him because he is different from them and always will be.
Taeju explains why everyone seems to be against Kwanghyun
The queen mother has heard what’s been going on and demands that the king do something – how can a peasant be allowed to insult the king like this? If he doesn’t do something, then she will. (I bet she will – she loves interfering) But just like Dr Ko, the king tries to defend Kwanghyun who is still only a student.
Myunghwan is pleased that the hospital is in chaos and tells Lord Jung that Dr Ko will not survive much longer in his position. The doctors from the welfare hospital and the royal pharmacy walk out too as well as the members of the administration office. Dr Ko and the nurses are left to cope on their own. But still Dr Ko refuses to back down.
Kwanghyun sits alone in the empty classroom contemplating the bullying he has had to endure because he’s different. Meanwhile a nurse screams when a patient starts convulsing. She doesn’t know what to do and as there are no doctors around Jinyung has to administer acupuncture herself. They can’t keep going for much longer and Kwanghyun looks around the busy hospital at the nurses struggling to cope. He must be feeling guilty by now. The king is annoyed to hear that doctors are leaving their patients. He knows they are trying to force him to demote Dr Ko and he grabs his side in pain …
Kwanghyun tries to see Myunghwan but a servant forbids him to enter the premises. Kwanghyun is about to be thrown out when Sungha sees him and lets him in. Kwanghyun tells Myunghwan that he will never give up his dream of becoming a doctor. Myunghwan is shocked thinking he has come to beg for his job back! But Kwanghyun agrees to quit the welfare hospital so that the doctors can return to their patients. (At least HE is worried about the patients – Myunghwan doesn’t seem to care at all!) Sungha overhears their conversation and is upset at the way his father is treating Kwanghyun and later he tries to change Myunghwan’s mind and allow Kwanghyun to stay. But it’s useless. The princess also begs the queen mother to help Kwanghyun but of course this is useless too.
Kwanghyun packs his knapsack and leaves the hospital while Myunghwan celebrates. Sungha meets with other scholars to see what can be done – how can the doctors treat their patients like this? Myunghwan and Lord Jung discuss the situation openly in front of Eunso who pours tea for them. Their plans to get rid of Dr Ko are working. After she leaves Myunghwan asks Lord Jung if it’s all right to discuss such matters in front of her. Lord Jung isn’t worried she will talk. (I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Lord Jung!) She goes back to her room to take her medicine and seems very agitated about what she’s just heard.
The king is angry with the officials for their tactics. He doesn’t want to get rid of Dr Ko. He trusts him. But during a meeting with officials the king clasps his side in pain and then collapses on the floor! Myunghwan is sent for but he dithers over what to do. He doesn’t know what’s wrong with the king and the medical council holds an emergency meeting to work out what to do. They go over the king’s symptoms again even discussing the status of the king’s poo:? But as they talk, Dr Ko realises that they DO know what is wrong with the king after all and he goes off to find Kwanghyun. (We knew it!)
Dr Ko finds Kwanghyun at the stables and he asks him to show him the animal with gall stones. Kwanghyun shows him and explains the symptoms of the illness which includes grey poop. Meanwhile Myunghwan checks the king’s stools again and notes a grey colour… Kwanghyun explains that if the sickness is left untreated and develops then the patient will get septicaemia (blood poisoning) and that can be fatal. Just as the words come out of his mouth, over at the palace Myunghwan takes the king’s pulse and recoils in horror – the king has scepticaemia. :shock:
While Myunghwan is still in shock and dithering over what to do again, Dr Ko takes Kwanghyun to the pharmacy to make up medicine. They must make a medicine to remove the stone. But when Myunghwan hears about this, he marches over to the pharmacy to demand an explanation – Dr Ko simply explains that saving the king is the priority here. Quite right. But Lord Jung is FUMING. Myunghwan is sure that he can take control of the situation but what if the king DIES? Lord Jung splutters that it’s best to leave it to Dr Ko! Then if things go wrong he will be in trouble!
Kwanghyun and Dr Ko give the king the medicine and wait for results to be revealed in the king’s poo. (their lives depend on it) But nothing happens. They wait and wait and start to worry especially when it seems that the king is getting worse. But at this point Dr Ko manages to subdue him with acupuncture.
The queen mother hears this and marches over demanding that Myunghwan be reinstated as the doctor in charge. Dr Ko is unceremoniously removed from the king’s bedside. but just in time Kwanghyun rushes up. He has heard that the king’s poo has changed colour. it is no longer grey but green. This is good. This means the king is getting better. But will they believe him?
***
It’s a touching moment when the king, lying on his sick bed frightened and in agony, grabs Dr Ko’s hand. He is trusting in him to make him better. But the king is too ill to stop the queen mother from interfering later on when she has Dr Ko physically removed from the royal chamber and Myunghwan reinstated! Grrr
Now we can really see WHY the king wants to keep Dr Ko in charge of the hospital: it is obvious that the doctors, starting with Myunghwan, are only concerned about their positions and NOT about their patients. And they show this clearly by walking out of the hospital leaving their patients to die. Grrrr.
But I wonder what is going to happen to Myunghwan’s relationship with Sungha and Jinyung as they are now starting to see who he really is. They are discovering an evil and frightening side to his character.
We get a reminder in this episode of what Myunghwan is capable of when pushed to the limits. It seems a long time ago that we saw him murder the other doctor who had also been involved in the death of the crown prince. So he will do anything to get what he wants and so Dr Ko is probably lucky that he is only paralysed in this episode.. But STILL Kwanghyun manages to beat Myunghwan again. And now he is FURIOUS.
Kwanghyun passionately tries to explain to the queen mother (who is not looking convinced) that the king really is getting better and that his medicine is working. (He knows from treating the cow with gall stones that when the poo turns from grey to green this means the patient is getting better – the stone is disintegrating. But Kwanghyun, when are you going to learn your lesson and STOP comparing the king’s symptoms with cows?! :?)
But on the other side Myunghwan is trying to persuade the queen mother that they can’t possibly trust this peasant and that HE is the one who must remain in charge of the king. The queen mother is confused and she retires to her chamber to decide what to do. Meanwhile Jinyung is convinced that Kwanghyun is right. She gets the princess on board and together they try to persuade the queen mother to trust him – but the queen mother has already sent a messenger to put Myunghwan in charge. Even when Jinyung backs Kwanghyun before her father, the queen mother is surprised but not persuaded.
The situation is resolved when the king sits up and is obviously improving. And (I love this bit) during this quiet and serious moment as Dr Ko takes the king’s pulse, the princess shuffles up to sit closer to Kwanghyun who is still concerned about the king and watching Dr Ko intently.
No one can believe it. Kwanghyun was right. The students are dismayed. Kwanghyun is reinstated at the hospital but he bumps into Myunghwan who tells him not to get too comfortable – he sees Kwanghyun as competition. Dr Ko also tells him Myunghwan has lost his talent because of his greed for power. Myunghwan is furious and goes to his office and throws a wobbler. He’s in a rage. Not only is Dr Ko still in his position but the peasant is back too. (AND he looks bad for not spotting the king’s sickness.)
Jinyung notices that Sungha is looking down. She asks if it is because of their father. Sungha admits that his father behaved wrongly and so he had to stand against him. Jinyung tries to apologise to Myunghwan for going against him but he just says that everything is fine. (I’m sure he doesn’t feel like that underneath!) Myunghwan pays Lord Jung a visit. Lord Jung doesn’t want to talk at first until Myunghwan tells him that he has another plan. It’s not over yet, he says. Meanwhile in the darkness guard Kang secretly hands a message to a servant.
As Dr Ko gets ready to treat the king he is brought some food. He didn’t ask for this. It’s suspicious. (Don’t eat it!) And sure enough when it’s time to go, he picks up his acupuncture needles but his body starts to seize up and he collapses on the floor. Meanwhile Myunghwan and the others wait with the king for Dr Ko to come. He pretends to look surprised ‘wondering’ why Dr Ko is so late. And time is running out – they need to do the acupuncture now – an auspicious time for the king according to the fortune tellers.
Kwanghyun goes to look for Doctor Ko and finds him paralysed on the floor. He’s been poisoned. There’s no time to fetch another doctor so Kwanghyun is forced to carry out acupuncture on Dr Ko even though it’s dangerous. Meanwhile Myunghwan prepares to take over from Dr Ko and treat the king. Inju is against this and rushes off to search for Dr Ko.
But just as Myunghwan is about to start, Inju announces the arrival of Dr Ko who is shaken but in one piece. Myunghwan can’t believe it. But Dr Ko is allowed to take over and begins with a very shaky hand.
The king recovers and when the princess sees Kwanghyun she wants to rush over and hug him in front of everyone – how cute – but Lady Kwak stops her. The king wants to reward those who made him better. He goes to the welfare hospital and thanks Dr Ko and Kwanghyun in front of everyone for saving his life.
The doctors are given a feast from the king and Kwanghyun shares food with his friends, but Kibae can hardly eat anything. He blames himself for the way Kwanghyun has been so badly treated – because if he hadn’t met Kibae and become a horse doctor everything would be different. But Kwanghyun appreciates Kibae and is grateful for everything he has done for him.
Myunghwan hands Lord Jung his resignation and it is accepted very coldly. There is clearly no relationship or friendship or respect of any sort here – the two men only work together for power. He may have resigned but Myunghwan has not given up and he is more determined than ever to have his revenge on Kwanghyun.
Kwanghyun hears from Inju that someone must have poisoned Dr Ko on purpose to stop him treating the king. And then Eunso goes to see Kwanghyun in the evening and warns him to watch out for Myunghwan. Can he put two and two together?!
Yes, from now on Myunghwan is probably going to get even worse than he was before. After having to resign from his position and being humiliated by a mere student who is also a peasant must be hard for him to take :) But how he is going to do anything now since he has resigned remains a mystery …
This episode feels like the calm before the storm. There are warnings and new information revealed, but no major crisis occurs. Yet. Kwanghyun is warned to be careful of Myunghwan who is getting ready for his next move. The students settle into their new positions at the hospital but there is already discontent in the air at Dr Ko’s new ideas for treating patients. And it’s now clear that Kwanghyun and Jinyung like each other, but this causes a misunderstanding and comedy with the princess when she attempts to reveal her feelings to Kwanghyun. FINALLY Kwanghyun’s true identity is confirmed.
Eunso warns Kwanghyun to watch out for Myunghwan. She doesn’t go into the details of what she knows but just points out that Myunghwan can’t stand watching Kwanghyun’s success and is now capable of anything. Meanwhile Lord Jung comes home and hears that Eunso is not in her room and he wonders what she is doing out so late at night. Is he going to get suspicious of her?
Dr Ko is getting better after being poisoned. But Inju is concerned about WHO poisoned him. Dr Ko doesn’t see any point trying to investigate the matter. He probably has an idea who did it anyway… and talk of the devil… we see Myunghwan alone in his quarters shaking with rage.
The student doctors are in shock when Taeju tells Dr Ko that he does not deserve to pass the medical exam since it was Kwanghyun who diagnosed the king correctly and not him. But it is now up to the medical board to decide what to do about the matter. (Taeju has acted quite snootily towards Kwanghyun but at least he seems willing to accept Kwanghyun as a doctor if he has the skills. On the other hand, many of the other students simply refuse to accept him because of his low class.)
Dr Ko takes the young doctors around the hospital and explains that he plans to treat boils – a serious problem in the Joseon period – with acupuncture from now on. He explains that many of the poor people die because they can’t afford treatment. But acupuncture doesn’t cost money unlike expensive medicine. (OK I didn’t need to see the close ups of huge boils being lanced – yikes. :? )
Dr Ko explains that the acupuncture treatment was written in the medical book???? (chi jeong ji-nam) Guide to Swollen Sore Treatment by Doctor Lim Un-gook??? (who also wrote a book on treating tumours in 1559 which you can see on this chart in the context of achievements of medicine around the world. The famous Joseon doctor, Heojun is also mentioned on the list in 1601 and 1610 – BTW Heojun is another great medical drama not to be missed.) Dr Ko explains that the book was burned during the war with the Japanese in 1592 but he wants to rediscover the treatment. But the other young doctors are not impressed with his new ground-breaking ideas. (they prefer expensive herbs!)
Jinyung wonders how they can treat internal abscesses with acupuncture and asks if she may study the treatment too. Inju allows it and so Kwanghyun and Jinyung will study together. When they see each other, they play fight. And OF COURSE, as always, poor old Sungha has to walk by and see them having fun together. :( Inju also watches the two of them. Sungha predicts that their relationship will end in heartbreak – maybe so, but not for the reasons he thinks …
The princess has decided that she is going to tell Kwanghyun how she feels about him. (Oh dear. I don’t recommend this, but I love how honest she is) And she manages to get the queen mother to allow her to leave the palace to go to the lantern festival???? (tung bul chuk che) for the winter solstice ????. (dong ji) Then the princess pulls Jinyung into her plan…
It’s snowing (is that real snow?) when Jinyung turns up at Kwanghyun’s place and asks him to go to the festival with her. She is acting a bit unnatural but Kwanghyun is delighted that she has asked him to spend time with her. It’s like a date, so he rushes off to get changed. He doesn’t know that the princess has set the whole situation up and they are to ‘bump into’ her at the festival. All goes to plan and Jinyung is quietly dismissed leaving Kwanghyun with the princess. She walks away glancing back at Kwanghyun who is now happily chatting with the princess. oh. :( (the fact that the princess wants to tell Kwanghyun how she feels seems to be making Jinyung examine her own feelings towards him too. Is she worried about losing him?)
Kwanghyun has no idea what’s going on (duh!) and when he’s told that Jinyung had to leave suddenly, he wonders if there is a problem at the hospital and prepares to leave too! But the princess insists that he stay and show her around – even though Lady Kwak and Guard Ma are right there too. (ha ha). Eventually they sit down at what looks like an outdoor restaurant (although they look VERY cold) and the princess prepares to tell him all. (The people must have been a lot hardier in the Joseon period, since they spend a LOT of time outside wearing only hanboks in the freezing cold! The actors must be wearing lots of modern thermals under there!)
The princess gives Kwanghyun a calendar with the date that they first met circled. (It was a tradition to give calendars to each other at Dongji. The festival used to be a big event but is not anymore. Read more about dongji here.) She admits that she remembers that day so clearly and Kwanghyun admits that he remembers that day too. But they misunderstand each other. So cute. She thinks he remembers meeting HER on that day, but actually he is thinking about Jinyung. They both speak vaguely about the problems of liking someone from a different class! (NO, don’t do it Princess, don’t say anything..) Luckily she is saved by the arrival of the queen mother and the queen who have decided to come to the festival too. (phew!) There is no time to tell him anything now because they have to run and hide. Kwanghyun doesn’t see why the princess has to hide from the queen mother. But he takes her seriously when she says he will die too if they are caught!
The princess has to hurry back to the palace and Kwanghyun bumps into Jinyung again who is having problems with her footwear – someone stood on her foot and somehow wrecked her shoe. Suddenly it starts to rain (Hang on. It was snowing a minute ago! Is that real rain?) and Kwanghyun and Jinyung run for cover in a barn. He makes a fire and they spend some time together trying to dry their clothes off waiting for the rain to stop. She is surprised that Kwanghyun is not more shocked about what the princess told him. (But of course he’s NOT shocked because she didn’t get a chance to actually tell him.) Meanwhile Myunghwan is furious that Jinyung has gone out and Sungha rushes off in the rain to find her.
When the rain stops Kwanghyun and Jinyung go home. But he notices her shoe and, just like when they were kids, he takes his shoe off and puts it on to her foot. She thinks back to her childhood friend lost in thought as Kwanghyun is acting the same as he did when they were children.
But when Jinyung gets home Myunghwan is waiting for her and still livid that she has been out with Kwanghyun. He insists that she get married to Sungha ASAP but she begs him to change his mind. Sungha doesn’t look pleased about this either. (He knows she doesn’t love him like that. Poor Sungha :( )
But Myunghwan has his own agenda. Earlier he went to pay his respects at Lord Jung’s house with a gift for winter solstice but he was turned away and told that Lord Jung was “under the weather”. (I think Lord Jung is the coldest of all the characters. All his relationships seem purely based on what others can do for him and when they can do nothing he cuts them off. I worry about Eunso too. What will he do to her if he discovers she’s been telling tales behind his back?)
Myunghwan may be humiliated at having to resign, but he is not beaten because he still has Jinyung. He goes to the king to announce the marriage of Jinyung and Sungha. And on his way back he bumps into Lord Jung. Myunghwan’s expression says it all – ‘you can’t look down on me, Lord Jung!’ Because once Sungha marries Jinyung, Myunghwan can get his hands on her father’s assets and title and become even more powerful …
But we know that the real heir to the fortune and title is NOT Jinyung but Kwanghyun. And Inju has just learnt that Kwanghyun IS the boy she has been looking for. He is Lord Dojun’s son. And as Kwanghyun comes back from town having bought a new pair of shoes to give to Jinyung, Inju meets him and calls him??? (nauri), Lord. (This confuses him because this title is used to address men in a higher rank from oneself. But technically Kwanghyun the student should not be higher than Inju.) She says she has something to tell him …
***
In this episode the feelings that Kwanghyun and Jinyung have for each other are shown more strongly although they can’t reveal their feelings for each other – Kwanghyun because he knows his status is so much lower than hers, and Jinyung just because she finds it difficult to express, or even know, her own feelings! She’s very different to the princess in that way!
But there’s a sense that the pair are going to be separated again just as they were when they were children: Back in episode 3 when Jinyung (or Yongdal as she was known) had trouble with her shoes, Kwanghyun bought her a new pair of shoes as a leaving gift because he thought he had to leave the capital and go home to his island. But he never got to give her the shoes because she was captured by Myunghwan. He managed to help her escape but later she was captured again and they were separated. Now as Inju is about to reveal his true identity and Myunghwan is trying to push forward with this wedding, it looks as though he is not going to be able to give her these shoes either.
But giving shoes to a girl/boyfriend is BAD LUCK in Korea. Give a lover a pair of shoes and they will put them on and run away from you! That’s how the saying goes. So maybe it’s a good thing that Kwanghyun is unable to give Jinyung the shoes? (I am predicting that he won’t be able to give her the shoes. So if he IS able to give them to her in the next episode, then this is a bad thing and so I guess bad luck.) BTW there are some more Korean superstitions here.
As always I enjoyed the comedy with the princess and Kwanghyun and it’s nice to have a break and not have Kwanghyun being beaten up or locked in the morgue! I’m intrigued to know what is going to happen now – will Kwanghyun learn about his real identity or will some other obstacle appear suddenly and prolong the agony? And what will happen when he does learn the truth? And will Jinyung be forced to marry Sungha? If she marries him and then they discover that she is a peasant what will happen to her? I can’t wait to see Myunghwan’s face when the truth is revealed. :)
OK. Kwanghyun is back in danger. And guess who is behind this again. Yes, Myunghwan is back on form. Kwanghyun is arrested for a crime that was taken EXTREMELY seriously in the strict Confucian Joseon society. But as always he is being framed. The crime is so serious that it reaches the king and Kwanghyun’s supporters have to prepare to defend him.
Inju stares at Kwanghyun and now he reminds her of her friend Dojun. We get a recap of Kwanghyun’s birth and how he was switched with a baby girl to avoid being executed. (I know this is supposed to be sad but I can’t help laughing every time I see this scene with the babies being switched – Inju looks so shocked when she is told that the babies were switched. But they look SO DIFFERENT and she was right there. She really didn’t notice? LOOK AT THE HAIR! PLEASE!)
As I suspected Inju isn’t able to tell Kwanghyun the truth – she’s obviously worried about what will happen to Jinyung when the truth is out.
Meanwhile yangban from all around are coming to congratulate Myunghwan on the marriage of Sungha and Jinyung. Lord Jung sits at home mortified that he too must try to ‘make friends’ with Myunghwan again! But when Sungha sees all the gifts arriving for his marriage he tries to reason with Myunghwan again. He still doesn’t want to force Jinyung to marry him, but finally seems to have realised that Myunghwan wants them to marry because of her fortune and status. (Sungha is far too innocent. Come on Sungha. Why ELSE would Myunghwan be pushing this marriage?)
Kwanghyun worries that Inju knows bad stuff about his past. (His father being accused of treason etc) Jinyung comes and takes his mind off it reminding him that they have to study. He tells her that Inju didn’t tell him anything. Inju is still struggling over what to do. She’s worrying about what will happen to Jinyung. But she can’t leave things as they are either.
The nurses are now taking part in the class too and Jinyung is sitting next to Kwanghyun. The other doctors try to tease Kwanghyun who gently asks them to stop. They ignore him. Jinyung tuts at them and they IMMEDIATELY turn away – she seems stronger than Kwanghyun but I suppose that’s partly because she believes that her status is higher than the student doctors?
They are learning about how to make different kinds of incisions when treating tumours and so the first task in class is to practise using a light touch. They are given a blown up pig’s bladder and some slices of tofu and they have to cut the tofu on the bladder without it bursting. Some of the nurses can’t manage it and they seem quite pathetic complaining about not being able to do it. Daebang bursts his too but tries to blow it back up like a balloon as he’s worried about being punished for failing. (Gross. Don’t put that to your mouth!) Dr Ko is in charge of classes now, but suddenly during the session he clasps his chest in pain. (Oh no. He’s one of Kwanghyun’s supporters so we need him!)
The princess hears a rumour that Kwanghyun is interested in a lady – but not her. Then we see Eunso’s sad life – her brother comes to visit her and Lord Jung complains about him visiting so often since Eunso is a widow. What a misery Lord Jung is. After Eunso goes inside we see a servant spying on the house. Then he rushes off to give information to Guard Kang. (This means trouble. OK, we had a little break in the last episode with no foul play from Myunghwan et al. But now the baddie is back!)
Dr Ko must be sick as we now see him administering acupuncture on himself. But still he calls for Kwanghyun to teach him more about treating boils on animals and they go to the stables to treat a horse with a large black blood boil. (ABSOLUTELY GROSS :? ) Kwanghyun shows him how to lance the boil. (Dear oh dear. DO NOT EAT DINNER WHILE WATCHING THIS. What is coming out of that boil? Marmalade?) It feels like Dr Ko knows he doesn’t have long left to live and is doing as much as he can while he has time. When Jinyung hears that Kwanghyun was teaching Dr Ko she wants to learn too and he promises to teach her. They agree to meet at the stables. And at the appointed time, Kwanghyun takes the shoes to give her. (oh no. It’s the shoes again. This means that something bad is going to happen again.)
Jinyung gets home and sees lots of presents arriving for her marriage. She tells Myunghwan she doesn’t want to get married yet. He asks why she doesn’t want to marry Sungha. Is it because of Dr Baek? Jinyung merely apologises. (So she seems to be admitting that she DOES like Kwanghyun. This seems careless to me. Surely she should know that she is putting Kwanghyun in danger by admitting this. But maybe she is too naive to know what Myunghwan is really capable of.) Myunghwan is shocked to hear her answer and decides that he must deal with this situation. Not good news for Kwanghyun.
Inju is full of nostalgia thinking back to her happy youth spent with Myunghwan and Dojun. Dr Ko comes in and guesses what she is thinking about. (That’s a bit strange. How can he guess this?) Dr Ko says he also remembers Dojun as he was a fine student. Finally Inju confides in Dr Ko telling him what she knows about Kwanghyun – that HE is Dojun’s son. Dr Ko is shocked.
Meanwhile Myunghwan’s servant comes to the stable where Kanghyun is waiting for Jinyung and tells him that Eunso is sick and needs to see him urgently. Of course he rushes off to see her. She is waiting for him too with a letter from him (that he didn’t write). It’s all a trap set up by Myunghwan. But when Eunso realises that it’s a trap it’s already too late, the guards are on their way and both Eunso and Kwanghyun are arrested. Jinyung waits for Kwanghyun at the stables but he doesn’t show up.
One minute Kwanghyun is happy in the stables waiting for Jinyung. The next minute he is thrown into a trap and the bait is Eunso.
Dr Ko and Inju hear that Kwanghyun has been arrested for??? (kang sang choi) breaking the basic principles of morality of Confucian ideas (?? sam gang and ?? oryun - 3 principles and 5 rules. Rules of behaviour between men and women were very strict during the Joseon period and a single man meeting a married – even widowed – woman alone at night suggests they are having a relationship and this was not acceptable. He could get the death penalty. BTW Adultery is still a crime in Korea today and people can be put in prison for this.)
Of course everything is going to plan for Myunghwan. Once Kwanghyun is arrested Myunghwan goes to see Lord Jung who is devastated because this ‘incident’ will ruin his family’s good name. Myunghwan says he is prepared to ‘help’ Lord Jung – Myunghwan has connections and thinks they can get Eunso off the hook – after all Myunghwan is only interested in getting rid of Kwanghyun. Nice one.
The irony is that Myunghwan is trying to have Kwanghyun killed but his children, Sungha and Jinyung, are both trying to help him. Jinyung pleads with Dr Ko for help. Sungha goes to question Kwanghyun on who it was that summoned him to Eunso – he realises that Kwanghyun may have been framed. He wants justice and probably wants to help his friend Doshik too who is worried about his sister, Eunso – she would also be severely punished for this crime.
But meanwhile, Myunghwan visits Lord Jung with a plan. And soon Eunso is (surprisingly) released but Kwanghyun is still facing serious charges. He tries to explain that he was merely meeting Eunso as a doctor to treat her sickness. But he is upset to hear that Eunso denies this – or at least Lord Jung does! Grrrr
The crime is clearly serious as it reaches the king and the royal family. The king has to meet with officials to decide what to do. The princess doesn’t believe that Kwanghyun would have any inappropriate relationship with another lady and she merely laughs at the idea. Eunso seems to be under house arrest and collapses clutching her chest. Kwanghyun is taken by the guards to be ‘interrogated’ (tortured) while Myunghwan grins with satisfaction…
***
So Myunghwan’s plan is very clever as he can kill two birds with one stone: get rid of Kwanghyun and make Lord Jung indebted to him. But how many times are we going to see Kwanghyun dragged off by the guards to be interrogated or tortured or beaten? It feels like it’s happening a lot!
I also felt that in this episode we really get a sense of the strict Confucian society that the Joseon people lived in. In the drama we often see Kwanghyun and Jinyung alone together, but in reality men and women could not spend time together alone so easily. There were strict rules and strict punishments.
We can also get a sense of the life of a widow. How miserable is Eunso’s life? It seems that her life is also over now that her husband is dead. What is she to do living with her miserable and power-hungry father-in-law for the rest of her life? All she can do is stay in her room. Even her brother is not a welcome visitor. Everything must be done to protect the good name of the family that she has married into. And it’s even more serious since it is such a noble family. Very depressing. No wonder she wanted to end it all. aigoo :(
We get to see more examples of how Confucian ideology affected life in the Joseon period. In the last episode Kwanghyun is arrested on the serious charge of immorality. In this episode the Confucian scholars are outraged to hear that Dr Ko intends to go directly AGAINST Confucian teachings and carry out an operation. It’s bad enough that the operation is going to be carried out on a person (vets can do operations on animals no problem) but the patient is a NOBLE WOMAN. And that seems to make the event even more unforgivable.
It’s not looking good for poor old Kwanghyun who has been charged with the crime of immorality and could face the death penalty. He has to do the walk of shame through the streets to the??? (ui-gum-bu) The Royal Criminal Justice Institute. When he arrives inside the palace grounds the princess happens to be outside and sees him being marched past with his hands tied. She’s devastated realising that the rumours were true after all.
Now everyone is judging Kwanghyun. The nurses gossip about him and they wonder if he was having an inappropriate relationship with Jinyung too. Daebang’s mum is not surprised to hear he has approached a noble lady because Kwanghyun also hangs around Jinyung. But the princess refuses to believe that Kwanghyun committed any crime. (She’s so loyal. How cute.)
Eunso is under house arrest and clutches her chest in pain. But the maid is not allowed to get help for her. Kwanghyun gets a glimmer of hope in his eye when Eunso’s brother Dushik comes to visit him. But Dushik simply apologises telling him that there is nothing he can do to help him. Eunso (probably forced by Lord Jung) now denies that she was treated by Kwanghyun. And so all the blame is on Kwanghyun for trying to approach a noble lady. But Dushik pleads with Kwanghyun to protect her – she has to deny any connection with a commoner to save face.
Jinyung decides that she will go to see Eunso and try and get her to change her mind and tell the truth. She asks Sungha to help her see Kwangyun and admits that she likes him. oh poor Sungha :( Then she visits Kwanghyun in prison prepared to back him up. But he tells her to keep out of it. He’s embarrassed that Jinyung is seeing him like this – under arrest – and orders her to leave. He suggests that he IS guilty of the crime of liking a noble lady. (ie Jinyung) But he’s aware that she risks her reputation too by being seen with him. (He must be feeling very humiliated.)
Lord Jung is furious at Kwanghun and the whole situation and is adamant that Kwanghyun must get the death penalty. He demands that the Crimimal Justice Institute deal with him promptly. Myunghwan smirks with delight at his anger.
Things are looking very bad and so Inju believes she must tell Jinyung the truth about Kwanghyun’s identity. Dr Ko is against it. It will be devastating for both of them. Just then Myunghwan arrives to see Dr Ko and so Inju leaves. But their eyes meet and she glares at him. She informs him that she knows he is after Dojun’s fortune, but that all the fortune will go to Dojun’s child. Myunghwan looks at her confused. He has a meeting with Dr Ko who also confronts him – seems like he also knows what Myunghwan is up to.
Kwanghyun gets tortured but refuses to admit he had any kind of inappropriate relationship with Eunso. Jinyung goes to see Eunso. Then Dushik arrives and they hear a scream from Eunso’s chamber. They rush in to find her collapsed in pain. She begs her brother to tell the truth. Dushik is furious with the way she’s being treated by Lord Jung and passionately shouts out in frustration. The maid finally drops to her knees begging for forgiveness and then she admits that she knows something …..
Kwanghyun is still begin tortured and still refuses to admit the crime but now says that he did not treat Eunso – he must want to protect her. This is very dangerous for him now but just in time Dushik races in announcing that he has new evidence in the case. The officials meet to decide what to do. The maid has said that she was threatened and forced to take part in the set up. And Eunso admits that she was treated by Kwanghyun. So this new evidence is in Kwanghyun’s favour. Now Sungha pushes for another investigation to be carried out. Finally it’s agreed that the investigation will start over and Kwanghyun will be released (for the time being).
Jinyung tells Dr Ko about Eunso’s illness – she has a lump in her breast. Her illness can’t be treated with medicine and she needs an operation. Dr Ko decides to treat her in his new department at the hospital??? (chi-jeong-chong). The young doctors are horrified to hear that Dr Ko intends to carry out an operation. On a NOBLE LADY!
Now for my favourite scene of the episode as we have a very intense scene between Lord Jung and Dushik. Dushik wants Eunso to have the operation and he is furious that Lord Jung just seems to want to leave her to die. (That would probably solve one problem for him – I guess she is just a nuisance to him now. Lord Jung is much more worried about his reputation than anything else). Dushik threatens to reveal the real reason why Lord Jung’s son died – he was sick and Lord Jung was too ashamed to have him treated by doctors. I love the intense glares they give each other. Dushik gulps and his mouth quivers but he still stands up to him. Lord Jung may be powerful but Dushik comes from a powerful family too. And he suggests that he could make life very difficult for Lord Jung if he doesn’t allow Eunso to have the treatment.
Myunghwan is bemused to hear that Dr Ko is going to carry out an operation. He knows there will be uproar and is very pleased. As predicted, Confucian scholars gather outside the palace gates to beg the king to stop this operation going ahead. Their complaint is that surgery goes against the Confucian idea that the physical body is inherited from one’s parents and should be cherished. (filial piety is Very Important in Confucian ideology). But the king allows it to go ahead. He agrees with Dr Ko that saving the patient is the most important thing. All doctors refuse to take part in the operation and so only Dr Ko, Kwanghyun, Inju, and Jinyung are left. Later Taeju joins them too.
Before the operation Eunso is given an anaesthetic of medicine and alcohol to drink. Dushik and Sungha wait nervously outside as the operation begins. Dr Ko tells Kwanghyun to do the operation – although this is his first time to operate on a human he has experience operating on animals. So he has the most experience! Knives are sterilised on hot coals and a stack of clean white towels (beautifully ironed by the look of them) wait to mop up the blood.
We get some grim yucky sound effects as Kwanghyun makes the first incision. But as he searches for the tumour, blood spurts out from the wound – yikes. The nurses mop the blood with the beautiful towels. And finally Kwanghyun finds the tumour and removes it all. He sews up the cut and it looks like the operation was a success. Dushik is now allowed in to see his sister who is still unconscious. He grabs Kwanghyun’s hand and cries with gratitude. He’s feeling pretty guilty at the way he’s treated him.
Myunghwan is not impressed that the operation went well. He thinks that the Confucian scholars will make a big fuss about this and Dr Ko will be removed from his position. And when that happens Myunghwan will take his place. He clearly doesn’t trust Inju now though after their altercation earlier and he tells Guard Kwang to have someone follow her too. But Sungha is standing outside so did he overhear the conversation?
Inju is determined that she will tell Kwanghyun who he really is. She gets out his father’s acupuncture kit and calls Kwanghyun to her office. She gives him the box telling him that it belonged to his father. Kwanghyun is confused. Inju prepares to tell him everything but before that she has one question for him ….
Eunso is recovering and Jinyung is giving her some medicine. Eunso asks Jinyung – what is Kwanghyun to you? At the same time Inju asks Kwanghyun what is Jinyung to you?
***
We are heading towards the half-way mark in the drama and it looks like FINALLY Kwanghyun is going to discover his true identity. Things are about to change! And there’s going to be a shake up as some people adjust to their new roles. Even Dr Ko is not well and who knows how much longer he can keep going. And when he leaves and if Myunghwan steps into his place, what’s going to happen then??
I find Dushik’s character very endearing. He’s so passionate showing his emotions so openly. And we’ve seen several sides to him in this episode: ashamed and apologetic to Kwanghyun for not helping him; throwing a fit of rage over Eunso’s neglect; intense and threatening towards Lord Jung; tearful and grateful to Kwanghyun for saving Eunso’s life. He is so different to Sungha who seems to keep all his emotions bottled in.
So I started wondering who we could pair Dushik with. (He’s not married, right?) I know that Jinyung and Kwanghyun are probably supposed to end up together, but I have been thinking about some alternative pairings..
I’d like to see Jinyung and Sungha get married just to see Myunghwan’s reaction when he discovers that she is a mere peasant and does not have a fortune at all! And I’d like to see Sungha try harder to win Jinyung’s heart. He just stands there and watches Kwanghyun get all her attention. Come on, Sungha. Sort yourself out.
How about the princess and Dushik? Two passionate personalities would be very entertaining. And she needs someone who is outgoing and not too quiet and reserved.
And Kwanghyun and Eunso. I did like the idea of the princess and Kwanghyun for a while. But now I think Eunso deserves some happiness and needs someone open-minded. I think there is potential here. Just a thought.
So the key question of this episode seems to be …HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT ….? Everyone wants to know how everyone else is feeling about someone – Inju wants to know how Kwanghyun feels about Jinyung. Eunso wants to know how Jinyung feels about Kwangyun. Kwanghyun wants to know how Jinyung feels about Myunghwan. Even the princess turns up to ask Eunso how she feels about Kwanghyun! :) And the people being asked the question all look confused – WHY does this person want to know this?! But Kwanghyun gets the biggest shock of all. Inju’s revelations shock and upset him. A big change is coming and everyone had better get ready …
Inju is about to tell Kwanghyun everything. But first when she asks about Kwanghyun’s feelings for Jinyung he takes offence and refuses to answer. (Maybe he’s worried about getting into trouble again for liking a noble lady!) He’s about to walk out when Inju mentions his father’s name and what she knows about his life. She explains that Baek Seokgu was not his biological father (?? chin-bu) but his adoptive father (?? yang-bu). When she says his father’s name – Kang Dojun – he remembers that that was the name Seokgu wrote in blood in the cave before he died. Now she has Kwanghyun’s attention! But when Inju explains that Jinyung was the baby that was swapped with him, he gets angry and refuses to believe it.
Sungha is now suspicious of his own father and follows Guard Kang and watches him carrying out Myunghwan’s instructions and telling a servant to spy on Inju. Myunghwan obviously doesn’t trust Inju and sits in his room wondering why she has suddenly brought up Dojun’s name again after all these years.
Meanwhile, the princess is in bed but wakes up shouting Kwanghyun’s name. She’s had a bad dream and in it Kwanghyun was dressed as a yangban. (dreams are a kind of fortune telling and are taken seriously) But when the princess said hello to him he ignored her and went off with another lady. Lady Kwak tries to comfort her saying it was just a dream. But Guard Ma puts his foot in it suggesting that the lady in the dream was Eunso. (oops!) This upsets the princess and now she is wondering if Kwanghyun really does like Eunso after all.
Eunso is getting ready to return home from hospital when she tells Jinyung that she can see that Jinyung and Kwanghyun have feelings for each other. And she explains that this is why one day Jinyung may have to make a choice between Kwanghyun and her adoptive father Myunghwan. Jinyung is confused by this but Eunso declines to tell her any more. She only says that she will find out the reason for herself later. (What’s with all the secrecy? Just TELL HER what you know!!)
After hearing the truth from Inju, Kwanghyun sits in his room in silence. Jabong and Kibae worry about him and why he’s acting so strangely. (They seem to spend their lives worrying about him). Suddenly he bursts out of his room announcing that he has somewhere to go. He goes to see Dushik at the administrative office and asks him to let him take a look at some archive records. (Inju told him to check the records of Seokgu’s death if he didn’t believe her story)
Dushik is only too pleased to help him out, but wonders why he wants to see records from years ago. Kwanghyun looks through the records and finds nothing until he remembers that he is looking in the wrong month. (the administrators in the Joseon period meticulously kept records of all happenings.) The information about Seokgu’s death as a traitor is written there and Kwangyun breaks down in tears. He sees Inju named as the person who looked after the grave. So she was telling the truth after all.
Now for some very bad news. Myunghwan is reinstated into his position after receiving a recommendation (from the queen mother probably pushed through by Lord Jung) Dr Ko hears the news with a glum expression. Then suddenly he has an attack and clutches his head in agony. (Oh no. We don’t want anything to happen to Dr Ko :o ) He seems to know that he has a serious illness as he wishes that he had more time to sort things out.
Kwanghyun goes to see Seokgu’s grave for the first time. (He didn’t know where it was before and could only pay his respects at the place where Seokgu died). He stays there till late, thinking. The others wonder where he is. When he returns he goes to see Inju to thank her for telling him the truth.
Eunso’s maid is shown a (very good :) ) artist’s impression of the criminal who threatened her. It’s clear to see that the man in the picture is Myunghwan’s servant and Sungha recognises him too. So now Sungha knows that it was his own father who tried to frame Kwanghyun. (Every time I write about Sungha I always end with a sigh. Oh dear. Poor Sungha :( ) But Sungha is not the only one learning the truth about Myunghwan. Because Kwanghyun learns from Inju that MYUNGHWAN framed Dojun too. :0
Of course Myunghwan has no idea that his secrets are coming out. He is happily on his way to celebrate his reinstatement with Lord Jung and other hangers-on. But Sungha sits glumly pondering over his father’s terrible actions and Kwanghyun shakes with rage over what he has just heard …
Myunghwan and Lord Jung wonder what’s going on with Dr Ko and why he is taking time off work. It’s so unlike him. They are still scheming to get rid of him for good.
The princess can’t control her curiosity and decides to go and ask Eunso IN PERSON how she feels about Kwanghyun. (Love it! The other conversations in this episode are pretty intense and serious. And the princess is intense and serious too. But that makes her so funny. Especially when she explains WHY she is so interested in this matter – Kwanghyun cured the princess’ cat and so is very special to her! Eunso looks confused. I’m not surprised. :) ) We don’t get to hear Eunso’s answer but I guess she puts the princess’ mind at rest and assures her that there is NOTHING going on between them.
Kwanghyun is in a difficult situation now. He has discovered that he is a yangban but taking his rightful place will mean ruining Jinyung’s life. He also needs to think about what he will to about Myunghwan. So he meets Jinyung and tries to find out how she feels about Myunghwan. She admits that he has been very kind to her. (duh! I wonder why Jinyung!) After their conversation Jinyung is confused wondering why two people – Eunso and Kwanghyun – have both asked her about her feelings for Myunghwan!
Kwanghun tells Inju that he can’t take Jinyung’s life away from her. But he is shocked when Inju mentions the name of the man who was also involved in the crown prince’s murder along with Myunghwan – Doctor Yi Hyungik. Kwanghyun remembers the name appearing in the administrative records he just read. (but didn’t Kwanghyun and Jinyung as children witness Myunghwan killing this doctor in the barn in episode 2 before Seokgu’s death?) Kwanghyun decides he must find out why his father was framed.
Dr Ko takes a break from teaching and so the old teacher is back teaching the students. But he flirts with the nurses – it’s probably his first time to teach women. And he is taking full advantage! The nurses don’t look too happy though…
Dr Ko gets medicine delivered to him, but he looks bad. Kwanghyun goes to see him when he hears he is not at work. There is no answer when they call Dr Ko’s name and then they rush in and find he’s collapsed. Kwanghyun takes his pulse and feels his head to find it covered in sweat. He knows that this is a very bad sign indeed ….
So Kwanghyun’s life is turned upside down in this episode. The fact that he is a yangban does not seem to interest him at all right now. It’s too much to take in and he seems more concerned about what will happen to Jinyung. He also wants to find out why Seokgu was framed. I am getting a bit confused though as both of Kwanghyun’s fathers were framed by Myunghwan! But when Kwanghyun talks about his father (aboji) I suppose he means Seokgu and not Dojun. He must be devastated thinking back to how ‘naughty’ he was as a child now knowing that Seokgu gave up his own child to save him. :(
Thinking back to episode 2 with the murder scene of Doctor Yi has raised a question for me though. Kwanghyun and Jinyung still have not realised that they were childhood friends but SURELY they both remember watching someone (Myunghwan) murder another man with acupuncture needles in the barn? And since they are both into acupuncture wouldn’t this shocking sight have come into a conversation by now? And yet they never mention this. They never say, ‘yes acupuncture is so powerful, when i was a child I saw a man kill another man with two needles’. ‘Really! So did I!’ bla bla bla. ‘OMG we are childhood friends.’ Of course discovering that Jinyung is his childhood friend Yongdal is only going to make Kwangyun’s life more complicated right now. But I just mention this because some of the characters have serious memory loss issues and others simply refuse to reveal important information in a timely manner! And this is winding me up! ;)
Dr Ko is in a critical condition and it looks like he can’t be saved. EVERYONE is trying desperately to find a cure for him. (Although Myunghwan seems to have already given up. grrrr) Finally Kwanghyun comes up with an idea, but it is SO OUTRAGEOUS that no one can believe he is serious. But it is the ONLY idea on the table. The king summons him and demands to know if he is willing to put his life on the line to save Dr Ko. Of course he is! Oh Kwanghyun, you really are a glutton for punishment!
Kwanghyun gives Dr Ko a piggy back to the hospital. Meanwhile, Inju has got hold of a mystery parcel that belongs to Dojun which she hopes will help Kwanghyun. And she is thinking about this when she is suddenly told that Dr Ko is ill and in a critical condition – That wasn’t sweat coming out of his head, it was fluid or pus coming from his scull. (yikes! :( ) He has osteomyelitis – an abscess on his scull infecting the bone marrow.
Inju blames the poison Dr Ko was given for aggravating his condition. When news spreads that Dr Ko is ill, Myunghwan hurries over to visit him. But Inju is rude to him demanding to know what is he doing there! Others are shocked at the way she speaks to him. But he says nothing. (probably feeling guilty) And when he sees Dr Ko, he also realises that the poison that HE GAVE HIM has made Dr Ko’s illness worse. (He seems worried about this but probably worried that he will be found out, not worried about Dr Ko. Grrr.) Jinyung and Inju both tell Kwanghyun that it may be impossible to save Dr Ko.
Dr Ko regains consciousness. He admits that he has known all along that he has this illness. And now he accepts his fate. He knows he doesn’t have long to live. But Kwanghyun is not content to sit back and watch him die. He searches the medical books desperate to find a way to help Dr Ko. But he finds nothing. The king announces that a cure must be found and notices are put up around the city for anyone with any ideas to come forward. All the doctors are working to find a cure. Then Kwanghyun finds some notes in Dr Ko’s room with the possible answer ….
Myunghwan seems to have mixed feelings about these new developments with Dr Ko’s health. He looks nervous. But Lord Jung thinks he is just worried that he might not get Dr Ko’s job! But Lord Jung assures him that he will. (Is Myunghwan really this heartless? He has murdered before but he didn’t intend to kill Dr Ko, he just wanted to sabotage him when he was treating the king. Now it seems his actions will actually kill him, so SURELY he must be feeling bad about this?)
Myunghwan may be getting worried that his past is catching up with him because of the way Inju spoke to him earlier. And his evil actions are not secret any more even from his family – Sungha sits drinking alone and miserable as now he knows about (only some of) the bad things his father has done. He crunches the artist’s impression of the wanted man in his hand – the man hired by his own father to frame Kwanghyun for immorality.
The princess is still worrying about her dream and worried that Kwanghyun likes someone else, but Eunso has told the princess that SHE is not that lady. So who could the lady be? Guard Ma suggests that the princess go and ask Jinyung if SHE knows who it is since she sees him every day. Guard Ma’s words seem to set alarm bells off for the princess – yes, Jinyung is a yangban AND she sees Kwanghyun every day …..
Kibae is worried about Kwanghyun since he has been acting so strangely. He has no idea about Dojun being Kwanghyun’s real father etc and asks him what’s going on. Kibae has been like a father to Kwanghyun and so Kwanghyun is about to tell him the whole story when Daebang comes rushing in to announce that Myunghwan has been assigned as the doctor to treat Dr Ko! (That’s ironic.) Kwanghun is devastated.
Myunghwan goes to pay his respects to Dr Ko who calmly puts his trust in his hands. (Oh dear. Even though Dr Ko knows what Myunghwan has done in the past, he wants to trust him. He wants to believe that Myunghwan can change and become a better person. Don’t believe it Dr Ko!)
Myunghwan orders various medicines to treat Dr Ko but as he is leaving, Kwanghyun marches over to him and aggressively informs him that Myunghwan will NOT get away with doing anything bad to Dr Ko again! Everyone is shocked at the way Kwanghyun is speaking to him and Jinyung stands in the background wondering what on earth is going on. But again Myunghwan does not react strongly to Kwanghyun’s words. He seems more shocked than angry. However, his assistants are outraged on his behalf.
Myunghwan now sits in Dr Ko’s place at the head of the samuisa 3 department meeting and the officials ponder over what to do for Dr Ko. But they come to the conclusion that there is nothing that they can do as it’s too late to treat his disease with medicinal herbs. But suddenly Kwanghyun bursts into the meeting with an idea – they can remove the infected area with an operation. The officials are shocked: He wants to cut Dr Ko’s head open? “Are you crazy?” they ask in horror.
When Dr Ko hears where Kwanghyun has gone, he is annoyed that he would suggest such a dangerous thing. But he is not worried about himself. He is worried about Kwanghun. Because he knows how the other doctors will react to the idea of operating on him. And he is right. The other doctors are OUTRAGED at the idea of surgery (BUT even MORE outraged at the idea of surgery coming from a peasant!) But Kwanghyun tells Dr Ko that he is willing to do anything to save him.
Myunghwan is furious too and thinks Kwanghyun is crazy. Meanwhile the spy who has been instructed to keep an eye on Inju tells guard Kang that she has been acting suspiciously.
Dr Ko loses consciousness again and they don’t have much time left to make a decision. The king goes to see him in person. But when Myunghwan says there is nothing they can do for Dr Ko, the king demands to see Kwanghyun. :) The king has heard about his suggestion to operate. Myunghwan is shocked.
When Kwanghyun arrives to see the king, the king reminds him that if he goes through with the operation and Dr Ko dies, then he must pay with his own life. But to the king’s astonishment, Kwanghyun is still prepared to carry out the operation!
Jinyung visits Eunso who previously told her that one day Jinyung would have to make a choice between her father Myunghwan and Kwanghyun. And after watching Kwanghyun speak so aggressively to her father earlier, she now wants to ask Eunso what she knows. Eunso gently tells her what her father Myunghwan has been doing. :(
But Myunghwan has no idea that both his children now know about some of his evil actions. He goes to the hospital to see how the preparations for the operation are going. He notices a box of acupuncture needles on the table and is shocked to learn that they belong to Kwanghyun. Because when he looks at the box more closely he realises that this box belonged to his old friend Dojun.
So preparations are made for the operation. Kwanghyun and Inju get ready, although everyone has tried to stop them going through with it. But as Kwanghyun is about to make the first incision, he realises that Dr Ko’s condition is even worse than he thought. In fact, it’s so bad that it’s impossible to operate…
***
We can see Kwanghyun becoming more bold now. He bursts in on the samuisa meeting passionately trying to persuade the doctors to operate on Dr Ko. And earlier he openly spoke rudely and aggressively to the high-ranking Myunghwan in front of everyone. It must be a mixture of his instincts as a doctor to cure his patient, desperation to help Dr Ko who has always been kind and good to him, and also anger and frustration from knowing that Myunghwan is the baddie responsible for his father’s death.
I also wonder if realising that he comes from a yangban family is making Kwanghyun behave more confidently too. Or would he instinctively act like this anyway? Class and ‘knowing one’s place’ is a theme that runs through so many Korean dramas and it was very difficult to move up and out of the social class one was born into in the Joseon period. So does Kwanghyun behave instinctively as a yangban even though everyone thinks he comes from the peasant class?
I think the presentation in the drama of Kwanghyun’s 100% goodness and Myunghwan’s 100% badness is too simple.
Kwanghyun’s passion and instinct as a doctor to save lives contracts so dramatically with Myunghwan’s passion to kill anyone who gets in his way. We haven’t seen Myunghwan do anything for another person yet – of course he tried to save the king when he was sick. But he was only worried about what would happen to him if the king died – since Myunghwan was the king’s personal physician, his life would also have been on the line. We have also seen Myunghwan passionate about Jinyung and Sungha’s marriage but again this was only for selfish reasons.
But I think presenting Myunghwan as ALL EVIL weakens his character and it becomes a bit of a caricature. He would have more impact if we saw some good in him too. Early on he seemed to genuinely care about Jinyung, but now it seems he was only interested in getting her married to his son to join her powerful family title and fortune with his own. We never see him spending time with his family, only scheming with Lord Jung. I would like to see at least one good trait!
On the other hand, Kwanghyun is presented as ALL GOOD. He is always putting his own life on the line to save others: He was prepared to take the blame for the immorality charge and now he is prepared to accept death if the operation on Dr Ko is unsuccessful. He also has an amiable personality and all the ladies love him! He is Mr Perfect. I can’t think of any flaws that he has. In the similar sageuk medical drama ‘Heojun’ (MBC 2000), the doctor, Heojun, was also passionate about saving lives but he was so passionate that he neglected his own family. This made him more of a real person with flaws and we saw that others had to suffer for his dedication. The tone of this drama is a lot lighter with more humour and Kwanghyun’s personality is less intense and more amiable. But I would still like to see at least one flaw!
The last part of this episode was fantastic. For pace it was the best so far. And the power struggle between GOOD and EVIL is shown so dramatically. For GOOD to win, Dr Ko must recover from his illness and resume his position as head of medicine. So all the ‘goodies’ are focused on the operation to save Dr Ko. Including the king. Because while Dr Ko is in charge of the hospital we can believe that everything will be all right. But on the EVIL side, we have Lord Jung who for his own selfish reasons wants to get rid of Dr Ko. And he encourages Myunghwan to carry out his evil plan. So it is Myunghwan who must decide what to do. Which side is he on?
The whole future depends on Myunghwan’s decision. Will he back Lord Jung as he always does or can he soften and turn back and join Dr Ko again? Dr Ko’s operation is a success and when he recovers he tries to persuade Myunghwan to change. Dr Ko represents hope and forgiveness and so encourages Myunghwan to turn away from his evil past.
But Myunghwan is growing increasingly desperate as he gradually realises that his evil deeds are no longer a secret. And then he gets the shocking news that Jinyung is NOT Dojun’s daughter. He must take drastic measures to deal with this situation. And he does. And his decision puts him right back on the side of EVIL!
Kwanghyun is devastated that he can’t carry out the operation. Dr Ko’s condition is worse than they thought and now even an operation is impossible. And as Kwanghyun and the others rethink what to do, Jinyung is having her own trauma. She is in a daze after hearing from Eunso the truth about her adoptive father Myunghwan. (He poisoned Dr Ko and tried to frame Kwanghyun hoping he’d get the death penalty for having a relationship with Eunso – a noble lady and widow) But Myunghwan has no idea that she knows anything and he is more concerned about why on earth Kwanghyun has his friend Dojun’s acupuncture box!
In the operating room Inju is about to wake Dr Ko up with an acupuncture needle when Jinyung bursts into the room. She wants to know what is going on and they explain that they can’t operate because they might cut into the blood vessel. But after taking a look at Dr Ko, Jinyung has an idea. Kwanghyun rushes off to the stables to get hold of a drill! Myunghwan is about to go and tell the King that the operation could not be carried out when Inju turns up and tells him that they are going to try the operation again. And the king is informed that Kwanghyun is going to drill into Dr Ko’s head!
But this time Jinyung is going to help too. This puts Myunghwan in a fix. Of course he was hoping that the operation would not be successful – then he could get rid of Kwanghyun for good. But if the operation is not successful this time, Jinyung will be in danger too!
Myunghwang tries to dissuade her from going through with the operation but she is behaving differently towards him now. As though she doesn’t respect him anymore. He looks dumbfounded at the change in her attitude. The ever noble Kwanghyun tries to dissuade her from helping him too as he knows the danger that she is putting herself in. But she refuses and says that if Dr Ko dies she won’t be able to forgive Myunghwan for what he has done. Kwanghyun is shocked – he now realises that SHE knows about Myunghwan too.
The operation begins. Kwanghyun drills into Dr Ko’s head (with some pretty grim sound effects) to avoid cutting into the blood vessel and lots of orange gunk comes out onto his drill. (dear oh dear). He’s only done this before on horses and it’s never been done on a human before. The operation continues into the night and Lord Jung and the others sit up waiting to hear how it goes. But Lord Jung looks content, even bored, confident that the operation will fail. Myunghwan of course has mixed feelings now that Jinyung is involved.
But Kwanghyun manages to suck the infected area out of Dr Ko’s head with a tool. (yuck) and eventually the king is told that the operation was successful. (Phew and Hurray.) But this is not good news for everyone – Lord Jung looks miffed. (I love his face when he hears the ‘good’ news!) Myunghwan goes to congratulate Jinyung afterwards but she blurts out that she knows everything and demands to know how he could harm Dr Ko. (She’s angry with him but she doesn’t even know EVERYTHING yet! She’s cold towards him and I wonder what Myunghwan will do when he discovers that she is NOT Dojun’s child? Jinyung is very vulnerable now) Meanwhile Sungha (who we are not seeing much of these days) has Myunghwan’s guilty servant arrested.
But there’s good news for Kwanghyun. Inju gives him a box that his father Dojun (before he was executed) asked Inju to keep safe for him. The box contains important documents and the family seal that will prove that Kwanghyun really is his son. Kwanghyun is moved but upset about what all this means for Jinyung. Inju is sympathetic but also firm and explains that she promised Dojun that she would restore Kwanghyun to his rightful place so if Kwanghyun doesn’t explain the situation to Jinyung, then Inju will ….
Now Myunghwan has to make his important decision: Dr Ko recovers but Lord Jung is not happy about this and tells Myunghwan that they still have an opportunity here – something could still go wrong with Dr Ko, wink wink. He’s clearly telling him to KILL Dr Ko! Because since he was seriously ill, nobody would think it strange if he suddenly died.
Myunghwan then goes to see Dr Ko who is now awake. Dr Ko calls him affectionately ‘Myunghwan-na’ like he used to when he was young. Dr Ko seems to be wanting Myunghwan to remember the old days before he turned to the dark side. He wants to help Myunghwan be a good man again and reminds him about the time he was a young apprentice with Dojun. But Myunghwan looks disturbed that Dr Ko KNOWS what a bad man he has become. (and he thought it was a secret?) Dr Ko says there is still time to change. But will he listen?
Kwanghyun should tell Jinyung about their situation – that they were switched at birth – but instead he grabs her hand (surely this is inappropriate, as he is still supposed to be a peasant!) and he asks her to run away with him. (that’s cute) She is shocked but doesn’t pull her hand away. He knows they can’t really escape the situation, but he’s just worried about what’s going to happen to her.
The princess only has a tiny part in this episode. She stands alone outside in the snow and looks upset as she has finally realised that Jinyung must be the lady that Kwanghyun loves. oh. :( (Does this mean we aren’t going to have any more ‘romantic’ scenes between the princess and Kwanghyun? That’s disappointing.)
Myunghwan is thinking over what Lord Jung said to him – that he must get rid of Dr Ko. But he doesn’t seem completely decided yet. Perhaps Dr Ko really has persuaded him to turn away from the dark side? However, there is a shock in store for Myunghwan which will push him to make his decision. Guard Kang has tracked down the man who helped Inju. Myunghwan is taken to see the man who has been beaten and tied up. The man soon tells Myunghwan what he knows - Jinyung is not Dojun’s child, KWANGHYUN is. KWANGHYUN is DOJUN’s HEIR. Finally the truth is out. This is a shocker for Myunghwan. And it changes EVERYTHING.
Meanwhile the chef takes Kwanghyun to see the official who he bribed to let them see the record archives from when Kwanghyun’s father was killed. There doesn’t seem to be anything unusual in the records until Kwanghyun notices that the man in charge of the investigation was Lord JUNG! And Lord Jung and Myunghwan are always on the same side. So he wonders if this means Myunghwan had something to do with his father’s death too! (Bravo! Kwanghyun is gradually putting two and two together.)
And now for the best sequence of events in the drama so far -
1. As Kibae stands outside the house worrying about Kwanghyun as usual, a group of men attack him and demand to know where Kwanghyun is. When he refuses to tell them they stab him in the arm with a sword. Kwanghyun turns up and tries to fight them off but there are too many of them. (where did he learn those fighting skills?) He rushes over to Kibae who tells him to run. But Kwanghyun is more concerned about helping Kibae when he SHOULD be more concerned about the men with swords! Duh! And sure enough, suddenly he is hit on the head and knocked out.
2. Meanwhile Dr Ko takes his medicine but he begins to choke and has a fit. He must have been poisoned. (So we now know for sure what Myunghwan’s decision is!)
3. Jinyung returns the drill to the stables and is told that Kwanghun has a horse called Yongdal – the name Jinyung called herself when they were kids. She is shocked.
4. Kwanghyun is taken to a dark barn and Guard Kang draws a sword on him demanding to know if he really is Dojun’s son…
***
So the episode starts off well for Kwanghyun but ends again with him in serious danger! His operation is successful and he gets hold of important seals that prove who he is. But then things suddenly turn sour!
I found the short scene were Dr Ko is poisoned very shocking. And I seriously doubt that he will be able to survive this time, because surely Myunghwan REALLY means to kill him this time. I think this is the turning point for Myunghwan. Up till this point he could have tried to turn his life around, but by killing Dr Ko he symbolically turns his back on being a good person and joins the camp of evil forever.
This was a long time coming, but FINALLY Jinyung must be entertaining the possibility that Kwanghyun is her childhood friend. Considering they talk to each other all the time, I thought they would realise this fact much sooner!
Anyway, the fast pace towards the end of the episode when it becomes clear that Myunghwan has decided to remain EVIL was great. But I was irritated when Kwanghyun goes home and finds Kibae being attacked. Kwanghyun fights with the men and then simply rushes over to help Kibae. SURELY he needs to make sure that the men have gone first? Or have all been knocked out? It’s so OBVIOUS that he is going to be caught, and I think we should see him putting up more of a fight. But other than that, great episode.
Finally Kwanghyun and Jinyung discover that they were childhood friends. (That took long enough!) But this revelation changes everything in Jinyung’s mind and she can’t bear to look at Myunghwan anymore. Myunghwan is devastated to realise that Kwanghyun is Dojun’s child but Guard Kang knows how to deal with this ‘problem’… Meanwhile Dr Ko is in a bad way and it looks like he is not going to survive this time.
In the barn Kwanghyun sits on the floor tied up. Guard Kang and Kwanghyun glare at each other and Guard Kang seems furious that Kwanghyun is Dojun’s child. (But this is not Kwanghyun’s fault, is it! And why is Kang so angry with him? Maybe he is fond of Jinyung as he has known her since she was a child and hates the thought of her losing everything. Or maybe he’s just concerned about what will happen to his own position if Kwanghyun becomes Dojun’s heir – because if his boss Myunghwan becomes less powerful, then so will he.) Kang orders his men to guard Kwanghyun and then he hurries away probably to get orders from Myunghwan.
Dr Ko is still hanging on, but he’s shaky and weak. (I thought he would have died straight away and although I’m relieved to see he’s still alive, it’s not looking good). When a nurse comes in and sees his condition she wants to call for a doctor, but he tells her not to. He wants to keep his condition secret. He looks at his shaky hands and realises that “it’s already started”. (Hmm, so does this mean he wasn’t poisoned again by Myunghwan after all? Is there another reason why he had a seizure?)
After hearing that Kwanghyun’s horse’s name is Yongdal, Jinyung rushes from the stables looking for Kwanghyun. But at his house she’s told that some men took him away. She demands to know the truth about his past. Jabong and Chef hesitate to tell her but she has already guessed he is really her friend who came to the capital from an island 8 years ago. (When they were kids, Jinyung was tied up in a barn by Myunghwan’s men. And Kwanghyun went looking for her. And now it is Kwanghyun’s turn to be tied up in a barn by Myunghwan’s men! Are we going to see their roles reversed here? This time Jinyung will be the one looking for him ;) )
Myunghwan is in shock after hearing that Jinyung is not Dojun’s child. Guard Kang is very loyal and supportive and says he will get rid of Kwanghyun – with Kwanghyun gone their problem is solved. (But then I guess later he’ll have to kill Inju too, though, as she knows everything) He marches out towards the barn clutching his sword.
Jinyung rushes off to get help from the royal guards to help find Kwanghyun. Meanwhile Kwanghyun is still in the barn with his hands tied behind his back, but he manages to pick up a piece of broken pottery and begins to saw through the rope with it. But then Guard Kang arrives looking menacing. Kwanghyun is dragged outside, but he’s angry, not afraid, demanding to know if Myunghwan is behind this and has ordered him to be killed just like he had Kwanghyun’s father murdered years ago.
In the middle of all this, Kwanghyun manages to break his hands free and starts to fight back – although there are lots of men with swords against him and he is unarmed! He puts up a brave fight but there are too many men against him. He gets slashed in the arm by Kang’s sword. (Kwanghyun was feisty as a child but since he became an adult we have never seen him fight and yet suddenly he can. This seems a bit out of character to me.) Now he is surrounded and it looks like it’s all over.
Guard Kang raises his sword, but just as he is about to kill Kwanghyun, a dart flies through the air from nowhere straight into Kang’s arm. Another gang has arrived, and while the two gangs fight, Kwanghyun is led away to safety. Kang manages to get away but then is stopped by Sungha (who looks surprisingly powerful and masculine dressed in bright pink). Sungha reminds Kang that he warned him to stop this. Kang drops meekly to his knees.
Kwanghyun is alone in the mountain as he struggles to get away. He’s losing blood from the sword cut and getting weaker. Finally he collapses in the snow. Meanwhile, Jinyung and the guards arrive at the crime scene to find lots of bodies lying lifeless in the snow. (I feel bad for the extras playing dead here. It must be freezing) Jinyung looks distraught when she finds something belonging to Kwangyung – looks like his acupuncture kit. She is now even more desperate to find him and rushes away. The head official tries to stop her but she rushes off alone. (He could have sent a guard with her though…)
After calling his name around the mountain, Jinyung finds drops of blood in the snow which lead her to him. Next thing we know Kwanghyun is being taken by piggy back to hospital. Inju recognises immediately that he has a sword wound and sends for mulberry root to stop the bleeding.
Dr Ko is shocked to hear what happened to Kwanghyun. He realises that Myunghwan is behind this and clearly doesn’t want to change. He grabs some paper and a calligraphy brush.
Myunghwan discovers that Sungha intercepted Guard Kang and saved Kwanghyun. Sungha has tears in his eyes as he demands to know why Myunghwan did what he did. (Kang has been taken away by the police but Myunghwan is just as guilty, if not more so. And at least I believe Kang is acting out of loyalty to Myunghwan and is probably even prepared to take the fall for this) Myunghwan plays the Jinyung card – telling Sungha that they must protect Jinyung. (Now this is interesting. Sungha has been so good so far. But now Jinyung could lose everything if Kwanghyun is announced as Dojun’s heir. So will this change him? Will he do ANYTHING to protect the woman he loves? Myunghwan is acting out of desire for power. But Sungha will act out of love. Oh.)
In hospital Jinyung holds Kwanghyun’s hand. And she says his first name for the first time – Kwanghyun-na. (in the informal style like she would have done when they were equal friends as kids, and not the more formal title of ‘Baek ui-seng’ – Dr Baek – that she has been calling him so far as an adult). He begins to recover. Jinyung walks away in a daze from the hospital her clothes spattered with Kwanghyun’s blood.
As Kwanghyun recovers he is told that Jinyung is his childhood friend Yongdal. (AT LAST!) He also seems dazed at the news and stumbles out of the hospital to find her. He asks other doctors if they have seen her. Earlier the princess heard that Kwanghyun was injured and rushed over to see him. Now she is right there and overhears him asking for Jinyung. She looks upset but Kwanghyun doesn’t even notice her. :(
Meanwhile Sungha looks for Jinyung, but the servants say she is acting strange and packing her stuff. (is she planning to run away with Kwanghyun now after all?) She still has the old sandal that Kwanghyun gave her stored away in a box like a precious possession. Sungha bursts into her room and tries to dissuade her from leaving and warns her that Kwanghyun will take away what she has. But she says she doesn’t mind and she leaves. Sungha is left alone clenching his fist. (I’m really wondering if he is going to become a baddie now. He’s been VERY good so far!)
Poor Dr Ko puts his official hat on over his bandaged head. He’s shaky and in a bad way but struggles out of the hospital. He waits in the snow desperately wanting to speak to the king. (I’m worried he’s going to collapse before he has time to see the king though.)
Jinyung waits for Kwanghyun clasping the sandal he gave her when they were kids. Kwanghyun runs to meet her. They meet on the bridge and stand apart for a while staring at each other unable to believe what they now know. Then they cry and hug. They talk about their childhoods and he is amazed that she still has the sandal! She ponders over what would have become of them if they had not been separated or if she had not become a yangban. Kwanghyun looks away and wipes away tears. He asks her again if she would consider going away with him even though it means leaving everything behind. This time she nods yes.
But I didn’t see this coming – their private reunion is being watched carefully by the princess who is mortified at what she sees – Kwanghyun and Jinyung in a cosy embrace. She falls to her knees and has to be helped up my Court Lady Kwak. (She must have followed Kwanghyun when he went looking for Jinyung? The princess is not in this episode much. She dropped her precious kitten in shock earlier when she heard that Kwanghyun was in hospital injured with a sword wound. But that’s all we’ve seen of her.)
Finally Dr Ko gets to speak to the king. The king can see that he is ill. Dr Ko explains that he is dying of ??? tetanus but begs the king not to punish Kwanghyun because it is not his fault that Dr Ko is sick. (What? Does this mean that Myunghwan didn’t poison him after all?) Dr Ko has struggled to see the king to beg him to save Kwanghyun. As soon as he has said this he collapses on the floor before the king and has to be taken back to hospital.
Myunghwan is angry when he hears what happened – that Dr Ko collapsed right in front of the king! (I suppose this makes him look bad since HE is Dr Ko’s doctor!)
The nurses are worried that Dr Ko will die and it seems that there is no cure for him now. It is too late. Myunghwan walks away from seeing Dr Ko contemplating what will happen after he dies. (This is a great result for Myunghwan because it looks like it WAS the operation that caused the tetanus and Myunghwan didn’t have to do anything himself to get rid of Dr Ko. No wonder he looks pleased with himself.)
On his death bed Dr Ko manages to ask Inju to look after Kwanghyun. He doesn’t want Kwanghyun to feel guilty over Dr Ko’s death. And he’s worried that Kwanghyun will give up medicine if he realises what really happened.
Kwanghyun meets Myunghwan outside the hospital and calls him a murderer saying he can never forgive him for what he has done. Myunghwan replies, “I am not the murderer here, you are!” Then right on cue we hear screams coming from inside. Something must have happened to Dr Ko. Kwanghyun looks up in shock.
***
So Dr Ko’s illness was not caused by Myunghwan this time after all. That means Kwanghyun really will be devastated when he realises this. And his life will be on the line. AGAIN! But will the king save him as Dr Ko begged him to? The ominous scream at the end of the episode suggests that Dr Ko has died leaving the hospital vulnerable in the hands of Myunghwan and Lord Jung. And once Dr Ko has gone, I expect even more naughty behaviour from the baddies ;)
I’m interested to see how Sungha will react to the news that Jinyung will lose everything if Kwanghyung is announced as Dojun’s heir. He has been so squeaky clean good so far, but will he change and go over to the dark side too now that the woman he loves could be in trouble?
I know this episode is about the reunion of Kwanghyun and Jinyung so the vibe has to be nostalgic and sad. But I just can’t get into that mood when I’m watching this drama. Perhaps that’s because I feel the reunion between them has come so late. Anyway, I much prefer the episodes that have more scenes with a lighter tone and humour mixed in with Myunghwan’s dirty dealings of course. I’ve thought from early on that this drama doesn’t suit ‘heavy’ emotional scenes. (they should leave that to Heojun) The scenes between the loved-up princess and unsuspecting Kwanghyun were priceless. Hopefully there will be more comedic scenes in the future.
This episode is all about what to do with Kwanghyun now that Dr Ko has died. Should he be blamed and punished? Should he face the death penalty? Although Dr Ko begged the king to pardon him, the king has Kwanghyun arrested and thrown into jail. Myunghwan assures Jinyung that he really wants to help Kwanghyun. But does he really?
Kwanghyun hears the screams from inside the hospital and rushes in to find (as suspected) that Dr Ko has died. When he hears that he has died of tetanus, he blames himself for trying such a dangerous operation. He can’t believe it and breaks down while Inju tries to comfort him telling him what Dr Ko told her on his death bed – it wasn’t Kwanghyun’s fault.
Everyone is upset including the king. But of course Lord Jung looks secretly pleased trying not to show it. There is a solemn funeral with everyone in tears. We get flashbacks to scenes of Dr Ko to remind us what a good person he was. We see him gazing proudly at his clinic. But now he’s gone what’s going to happen to the hospital?
The tone changes as guards march out with a mission. The funeral is over and now someone must pay for Dr Ko’s death. Meanwhile Kwanghyun sits quietly in tears by Dr Ko’s grave holding a letter with his name written on the envelope. Dr Ko wrote the letter to him before he died. (that must be why he grabbed the paper and calligraphy pen in the last episode?)
Inju hides Kwanghyun’s box of seals and documents in a panel in the wall of her office just in time before the guards come to arrest her. Kwanghyun’s house is also ransacked by guards and he is arrested and taken away too – probably to the Ministry of Punishments. But as he is led away Jinyung arrives grabbing at him helplessly begging the guards to let him go.
The king is very upset and calls for Myunghwan and Lord Jung. He admits that he can’t forgive Kwanghyun for messing up the operation. (Even though before he died Dr Ko begged him to forgive him?) Lord Jung pushes for the death penalty. (of course) But the king wants to know Myugnhwan’s opinion. Was it really a failure on Kwanghyun’s part? Myunghwan hesitates to answer. Lord Jung can’t believe it and questions him later. Why didn’t he simply put the blame on Kwanghyun? But Myunghwan says he has a plan.
Myunghwan wants Kwanghyun out of the way and tells Sungha that they must protect Jinyung – with Kwanghyun out of the way the problem is solved. Then Jinyung enters and solemnly bows, but looks at Myunghwan coldly and demands to know why she hasn’t been arrested too, since she also took part in the operation. Is it because Myunghwan needs her for her title and fortune? Myunghwan tells her that he wants to help Kwanghyun. But Jinyung doesn’t trust him and later asks Sungha if he will really help Kwanghyun. Sungha promises that he will make sure that Myunghwan sticks to his word and that somehow Kwanghyun is saved.
Myunghwan visits Inju with a proposal – give him the documents that prove Kwanghyun is Dojun’s son, and in return he will save Kwanghyun from the death penalty. She refuses and he gives her until the next day to think about it. She doesn’t trust him and is concerned that he will kill Kwanghyun anyway.
Sungha visits Kwanghyun in prison with the news that they are figuring out a way to save his life. But Kwanghyun doesn’t want to hear it. He says he is prepared to face his crime and wants Myunghwan to face HIS crime too. He feels that Sungha is trying to help Myunghwan hide his crime. In frustration, Sungha admits that he is doing this for Jinyung’s sake – because she loves Kwanghyun. Oh poor Sungha :(
Guard Kang arrives but shakes his head to Myunghwan. (He must mean that Inju has refused to give up the proof.) Myunghwan looks disappointed. But on his way to see the king he is told that Inju wants to see him. Muyunghwan smirks. And next we see Guard Kang retrieving the box of documents from where Inju hid it. (She had no choice really.) So now that he has the proof that he wanted, Myunghwan tells the king that the tetanus was not related to the operation. So now Kwanghyun will be sent away to the navy rather than executed. (I don’t understand why he needs to be punished at all now though?)
The Princess wants to see Jinyung as she is worried about Kwanghyun. (She had vowed never to see Jinyung again but now that Kwanghun’s life is in danger she retracts this. Cute.) She is appaled to hear that he must join the navy and wants to help.
Kibae and Jabong pack their things and prepare to leave. Chef gives them money. Jinyung packs her bags too. They are now all part of the plan to help Kwanghyun escape.
Kwanghyun is tied up and led away with a procession of guards. But some of the guards help him escape and he is smuggled away in the princess’ palanquin.
The princess bids Kwanghyun a tearful farewell and hopes that she will see him again. She is upset that she can’t do more to help him. His arm is bleeding and the princess rips her petticoat to bandage his wound. ah. And she hugs him and thanks him for making her happy. (It looks like the princess is growing up. She’s a lot more mature here.) Then one of her own guards escorts Kwanghyun to a waiting boat to escape.
Eunso’s brother fills her in on the situation with Kwanghun – Sungha helped him escape and now he’s safe – but she doesn’t look convinced. Kibae and Jabong and Jinyung wait for Kwanghyun at the boat ready to leave. Meanwhile Sungha drinks alone in the restaurant deep in thought. Daebang’s mum comes in and pours him a drink but let’s it slip that Jinyung is waiting at the boat for Kwanghyun. But when she mentions where Jinyung is waiting, Sungha looks shocked and he rushes to see his father.
Myunghwan opens the box of Kwanghyun’s documents and throws the evidence on the fire. Sunghan bursts in and Myunghwan confirms that he tricked Sungha and that he never had ANY INTENTION of saving Kwangyun!
Kwanghyun and the guard arrive at the boat but Jinyung and the others are not there. They are waiting SOMEWHERE ELSE. Jinyung goes off to look for him. But the guard and Kwanghyun set sail on another boat. Kwanghyun realises there is something dodgy with the boatman (since his father was a boatman too). Sure enough the boatman kills the guard and then draws his sword against Kwanghyun announcing that his orders are to kill him. :o Jinyung senses that something is very very wrong…
***
Myunghwan really is very sneaky here. It seems he has pretended to everyone (including Jinyung and Sungha and Inju) that he wanted to help Kwanghyun, but really he was planning to have him murdered all along! But after all they know about him, how could they really trust him?! Sungha obviously wanted to do the right thing and help Kwanghyun, so what will his relationship with his father be like from now on – now that he knows he REALLY can’t trust him?
So once again Kwangyun is facing death at the hands of one of Myunghwan’s assassins. The last episode ended with him in a boat unarmed and helpless against a raised sword. He manages to escape somehow and we see history repeating itself as he is helped again by someone from his childhood.
As Kwanghun faces the sword of the dodgy boatman, who has already killed the guard, Sungha is trying to persuade his father that there is still time to find and save Kwanghyun! But Myunghwan admits that he NEVER intended to save Kwanghyun and that he will already be dead. Sungha can’t believe it. He cries in frustration. (And he must be feeling guilty as he promised Jinyung that he would help Kwanghyun no matter what. He was so naive to think Myunghwan would really help Kwanghyun and he totally underestimated his father’s cruel character.) Myunghwan merely instructs him to tell Jinyung that it was an accident that Kwanghyun died. (Maybe now at last he understands what kind of person Myunghwan really is.)
Kibae and Jabong wait at the boat but guards arrive. (looking for Kwanghyun?) Just like in the last episode Jinyung is wandering around alone searching for Kwanghyun. But then she stops as though she senses something is wrong. :( She drops to her knees and heavy rain starts to fall. Meanwhile Kwanghyun’s boat is floating away eerily empty of passengers. At dawn Eunso stands at the river looking out thinking about Kwanghyun.
Four months later…
Life at the royal court continues and Myunghwan is now in charge at the hospital and he’s got his own people in other top positions too. He is already making changes including getting rid of Dr Ko’s clinic for the poor. He informs the king how things are going but the king seems disappointed that Dr Ko’s ideas for alternative treatments that don’t need expensive herbs – such as surgery and acupuncture - won’t be realised now. Myunghwan tries to persuade him that this way is the best because the new hospital will bring in MONEY.
Then he goes to celebrate at the restaurant. Daebang’s wannabe mother fusses over him as usual making sure that his dishes are served fresh and the alcohol is good quality. But she turns her nose up at Kibae when he arrives to see Chef. (She is such a snob. I look forward to the moment she realises who Kwanghyun is. She will behave totally differently towards him and his friends then!)
Jinyung is back at the palace and on her way to see the king when she bumps into the princess at the royal stables. The princess has come to find a vet to look at her sick cat again, but of course there is no one there who can help her now that Kwanghyun has gone. Jinyung and the princess both seem lonely without him. And because of him they are not as close friends as they used to be either. But they sit and chat and Jinyung mentions that she has heard that the princess is going to be married. Again the princess is not keen on marriage and has a plan to get out of it – by acting crazy or something! :)
At the hospital, although Myunghwan has put his own people in charge, the nurses still address Inju as ‘Head Nurse’ (???? su-ui-nyo-nim) much to the current head nurse’s annoyance. Jinyung arrives to inform Inju about her plans. They are both unhappy about Myunghwan’s changes at the hospital and they have their own plans to make sure that Dr Ko’s vision is not forgotten. In the middle of their conversation Jinyung is called away because Sungha is making a scene at the gisaeng house.
The gisaengs run away from Sungha who is drunk and disorderly. (he’s not a very convincing drunk though in my opinion) Jinyung’s arrival only makes things worse, and he pushes over the table with all the food and drink on it. He blames himself for Kwanghyun’s death and can hardly face Jinyung now. But Jinyung assures him that she ‘knows’ that Kwanghyun isn’t dead. Sungha looks at her with sorrow in his eyes probably thinking she has false hope.
Meanwhile we find Kwanghyun somewhere away from the palace where he seems to be working at a port as an unloader. He is scolded for not working hard and gets paid a meagre salary because he’s weak and not in good health. The other men that he shares accommodation with gamble noisily to unwind at the end of the day. And they discuss how they can make more money with the opening of the royal hospital. (as the hospital will need expensive herbs) Kwanghyun looks troubled to hear this news.
Kwanghyun is in pain and goes off to a storeroom to find herbal medicine to treat his sword wound and he gives himself acupuncture for the pain. We see a flashback of him being washed up onto the river bank where he was found by locals. He still has the letter from Dr Ko (it looks in good condition considering he must have had it on him when he was in the river!) and in it he is told to find a famous surgeon.
As instructed by Dr Ko, Kwanghyun goes off in search of the doctor. He asks in all the local pharmacies but no one has heard of the name. Meanwhile an old man is losing all his money gambling. He seems to be a complete loser and his life is a mess. His assistant drags him away from the other gamblers and they go to the market because they need to make some money. The doctor attracts a crowd of onlookers as he begins to heal patients with acupuncture. Could this be the man that Kwanghyun is looking for?
Kwanghyun happens to be passing through the market at the time and he notices the crowd around the ‘doctor’. But as he watches him treat patients, Kwanghyun thinks this man is a fake because he is not using the correct pressure points to treat the patients’ symptoms. And he is shocked to see that the quack is about to perform a very dangerous acupuncture treatment on a patient that if done incorrectly could end in the patient’s death! So Kwanghyun leaps in to stop him and tells him that he can’t allow him to be so irresponsible. (Although he is doing his duty as a doctor, I feel that Kwanghun is being quite arrogant and judgmental here. Yes, he’s a good doctor but he doesn’t know EVERYTHING about medicine yet. But the ‘quack’ does not seem offended.)
But then before he can finish the treatment, guards are heard in the distance so they have to pack up their illegal ‘clinic’ and make a run for it. Kwanghyun runs too – he doesn’t want to be noticed by the guards either – but he collapses from his injury and is taken to the doctor’s home.
While Kwanghyun is unconscious the doctor treats his wound. And now we find there are several coincidences – the sword wound is in EXACTLY the same place as the arrow wound that Kwanghyun got from Guard Kang’s arrow when he was a child. And it is the SAME doctor who is treating him again. (Surely this is TOO MUCH of a coincidence?) The doctor recognises Kwanghyun from his wound. But Kwanghyun still doesn’t recognise the doctor and simply thinks he is a fake. He is angry that the doctor treated him and he leaves as soon as he can.
Myunghwan’s hospital is finished. And he happily receives a bribe from a ginseng merchant. So everything has gone back to how it was before Dr Ko took over – and this is exactly what the king didn’t want. inju is not impressed with what is happening at the hospital as now only the rich will be able to afford to go there.
Meanwhile Kwanghyun feels better after his treatment and sees that other patients treated by the dodgy doctor are better too! He realises that he is legit after all and hurries back to the house where he was treated. But the doctor and his assistant have already left. But as he looks around the unusual room, Kwanghyun remembers the den of the doctor who dissected animals and treated him when he was a child. Kwanghyun realises two things – 1. this is the doctor who treated him when he was a child! 2. This is the surgeon that Dr Ko told him to find! Luckily there is a message on the wall from the doctor’s assistant telling him where they have gone – to catch a boat to Qing China. Kwanghyun hurries after them.
When Kwanghyun gets to the port, a boat has already sailed and he thinks he has missed them. But the doctor and assistant missed the boat too and so they all have to stay overnight to wait for another boat. Kwanghyun is allowed to join them and they go to leave for Qing China together. But who should be at the port waiting for a boat too – Jinyung!
***
The end of this episode sees Kwanghyun change from quite an arrogant know-it-all to the humble student who realises he doesn’t know everything after all. But he can’t simply be accepted as a student straight away. There has to be the classic passage of rites scene where the student must endure some hardship to show that he really wants to be the master’s disciple. This usually involves standing/kneeling outside the master’s house for days/weeks or however long it takes until the master accepts that the student really is serious and worthy enough to be accepted.
So at first the doctor refuses to accept Kwanghyun as his student. But I think Kwanghyun has it pretty easy here. He only has to spend one night sitting outside an inn (and the only reason he stays outside is probably because he doesn’t have money for a room!) In the morning the doctor still refuses to accept him. But as they wait for the next boat the doctor finally asks Kwanghyun why he wants to study under him. Kwanghyun explains what happened with Dr Ko and that he wants to prove that Dr Ko was right about using surgery and acupuncture to help the sick. The doctor accepts this and they all leave for Qing China together. So the baton of mentor has been passed from Dr Ko to Dr Saam.
This episode takes place in Qing China where Kwanghyun has been studying with his teacher Dr Saam for several years. And here, in just ONE episode he manages to perform two very unusual operations. Everywhere he goes he manages to bump into someone with a strange illness. It’s starting to be like the Joseon version of the American medical drama House!
It’s several years later and Dr Saam and his assistant Kayong are in Qing China. They are in town and busy looking for a restaurant. Kayong wants to find a particular restaurant that serves great dumplings where they ate the last time they came here. But she can’t remember where it is. Now we see Kwanghyun. He looks different. More facial hair. Several years in Qing have changed him. (I think he looks better) He’s found the restaurant and they all hurry in. They order several different kinds of dumplings and wait with anticipation. (I want to eat dumplings in China too – there are not many different kinds of dumplings in Korea – and it’s almost impossible to find any that don’t contain pork :( )
But when the food arrives they can’t believe it. It’s bland and totally different to how it tasted before. First they wonder if the chef has changed. They peek in to the kitchen to check. But no, the chef has not changed. He’s the same as before. It’s a mystery. But while Kayong simply complains about the bad taste of the food, Kwanghyun is asking WHY the chef’s cooking has got worse. (I seem to remember that there are similar scenes in Dae Jang geum where characters lose their sense of taste)
Kwanghyun wonders if the chef may be sick. Encouraged by Dr Saam he confidently barges into the kitchen and demands to check the chef’s pulse! The chef objects at first (I’m not surprised!) But he is clearly not well and finally allows him to check him. Kwanghyun decides that he has a stone in his salivary gland in his TONGUE! (That’s different!) And the chef’s wife is informed that if they don’t operate straight away the chef will die. Straight away the kitchen turns in to an operating room and the chef is given an acupuncture anaesthetic before Kwanghun cuts the underside of his tongue open and removes the stone. (Yikes! :o ) Of course the operation is a success and Kwanghyun and the others set off again.
Dr Saam, Kayong, and Kwanghyun are happy after the success of the operation
Dr Saam has an appointment with the local??? (???) Deputy Governor General. Kwanghyun and Kayong are surprised to discover that he is from Joseon – he was a prisoner of war during the Manchu wars of 1636 but has managed to rise to and become a high ranking governor. The governor tells them that his daughter has a mysterious illness. But he can’t visit her because she has now married into a powerful family (with high ranking officials in the Ministry of War) and she has been put in confinement. (Perhaps because her new family is ashamed of her illness) Dr Saam saved the governor’s life years ago and so the governor obviously trusts him and wants his help again. But it’s difficult for them to diagnose her without seeing her and only hearing her symptoms – She has no fever or other symptoms, just a large swelling on her side which she describes as feeling like bugs are wriggling around inside it. (it’s like something out of a horror film :0 ) She has seen doctors but no one can work out what’s wrong with her. So Dr Saam is his last hope. They have to find a cure.
Treating this young woman from Joseon makes Kwanghyun think about Jinyung. Then we see Jinhyung (known as Yongdal now) back in Joseon working with Kibae and Jabong in their secret pharmacy sorting out herbs for the poor. Their work has to be done in secret (as it goes against Myunghwan’s plans to sell herbs at a high price) but they keep getting anonymous tip-offs when the police are coming so that they can quickly hide all the herbs.
Over at the palace, the princess comes out of her quarters dressed in a white mourning hanbok. Her loyal maid and guard are still by her side and look at her sadly as she is so young and already a widow. But suddenly the princess cheers up. It’s been three years now, she says (three years was the official mourning period for a husband or parent) and so it is time to stop mourning. (It’s obvious that her heart is not into mourning. She is simply following the Confucian rules of propriety for mourning.) Her maid and guard are shocked as she smiles with happiness and heads off to the fabric shop to choose some brighter colours for new hanboks!
At the store she bumps into Eunso who is now also out of mourning and so out of her white robes and now wearing a stylish hanbok. Eunso gives advice to the princess about what fabrics to choose – don’t choose anything too bright yet – while her maid looks on disapprovingly. (What a nightmare. It seems that she married someone she didn’t love and when he died she spent 3 years in mourning and that’s still not good enough! What’s the problem? Is she supposed to mourn forever?)
At the palace the young crown prince (the future?? King Hyeonjong ) is very sick. Myunghwan is still in charge of the hospital and treats the young boy with acupuncture. His treatment is successful and the king and family are very grateful to him. Grrrrr. Myunghwan may be respected by the king right now, but his relationship with his son seems to have deteriorated. Sungha has obviously not forgiven his father or himself for their roles in Kwanghyun’s ‘death’. Myunghwan hears that the mysterious pharmacy for the poor is travelling around selling cheaper herbs. This is affecting his own and other noblemen’s pharmacy’s profits. He storms into Sungha’s office demanding to know what the board of Audit and Inspection are going to do about it! (is this illegal though?) Sungha explains he is doing all he can. But he says it without conviction. (I think we can guess who is sending the notes to Jinyung)
Back in Qing, Kwanghyun and Dr Saam are still trying to work out how to get in to see their patient. Kayong has an idea – she read in Heojun’s medicine book that there is medicine they can take to become invisible!
historical note: Heojun (1537/39–1615) was a famous court doctor who died several years before this drama begins. There is a sageuk drama about his story also directed by Lee Byung Hun. His famous medical work Dongui Bogam was published in 1613. The drama Heojun presents the doctor as an earnest and heroic figure of medicine (similar to Kwanghyun.) But interestingly in this scene the characters focus on the less ‘realistic’ sections of his book. BTW Heojun was a real person from history but as far as I know Kwanghyun is just a made-up character. The character Heojun has a cameo in the MBC drama All About Eve (MBC 2000).
Kwanghun has a more realistic idea about how they can get in to see their patient – they will cause a distraction and then sneak in. He takes a pedigree horse as a gift from the governor. He is introduced as the vet and so is allowed inside the grounds with the horse. But once inside the stables he feeds the horses some herbs to ‘liven them up’ and unlocks the stable doors. The horses soon cause chaos as they charge outside. While the Qing guards are rushing around in panic Kwanghyun and the others sneak into the patient’s bedroom!
At first the governor’s daughter is shocked to see them and embarrassed to show them her huge lump. But when they finally see it, they are shocked too because it’s so MASSIVE! It’s clearly not a boil! Kwanghyun takes her pulse. And then considering that she has no other symptoms of illness, he finally comes to the conclusion that she’s not sick – she’s pregnant. But just then her husband marches in and catches them there. (He doesn’t seem too concerned that two strange men are standing in his wife’s bedroom! He doesn’t have them thrown out and killed immediately as I would expect) but he allows them to persuade him that his wife is about to have a baby! He doesn’t believe them at first (not surprisingly) but then at the perfect time his wife’s labour starts! There’s no time to spare. She must be operated on straight away.
Dr Saam tells Kwanghyun to do a Caesarian while her husband waits outside. But it takes too long and he loses patience. He storms into the operating room and fights with Dr Saam while Kwanghun is in the middle of the operation! The fighting stops when the baby starts crying. He has a son. And all is well. The governor is allowed to come and see his daughter and grandchild too.
Jinyung has realised that it’s Sungha that is sending her the warning messages that police are on the way. She’s worried about his safety too because he’ll be in trouble if he gets caught. But he obviously wants to help her. Meanwhile Eunso hears that Kwanghyun has been spotted in Qing.
The Qing official is very grateful to Kwanghyun who now looks rather pleased with himself. He has never performed this operation before. But his face changes when he hears that there is a medical party coming on a visit from Joseon. And who should be in the party but Myunghwan! (and Jinyung! ;) )
***
This episode feels like another break before the real action begins again. Kwanghyun has needed time to recharge his batteries and perfect his skills in Qing for a few years. He’s getting ready for a triumphant return to Joseon I expect. I am looking forward to seeing Myunghwan’s face when he realises that Kwanghyun is alive and well after all ;)
There’s more build up for the final showdown between Kwanghyun and Myunghwan. Myunghwan arrives with his entourage in the capital of Qing to treat the royal patient. But it’s announced that any doctor in the country who knows how to cure the disease is encouraged to come forward. Dr Saam persuades Kwanghun to go the the capital, because if he can cure the Empress, he will not only be honoured in Qing but this could also be his ticket back to Joseon.
Kwanghyun is in shock after hearing that Myunghwan is on his way to the capital to treat the royal patient. It really is a small world. Hearing his name brings back lots of unpleasant memories as well as his guilty feelings over the death of Dr Ko. An announcement is put up around town asking for any doctor with the skills and knowledge to cure the royal patient to come forward.
Back in the palace in Joseon, the princess is now back in her fine clothes and greeting the king. She seems to have got a lot better at pretending to go along with whatever she is told to do! She looks appropriately demure during the conversation until the king mentions that she should move back to the palace. Her guard drops and she almost shouts out in protest. She clearly didn’t see that one coming and has been enjoying her freedom.
Eunso gets a letter from her brother who has now arrived in Qing but hasn’t seen Kwanghyun yet. But while she is reading the letter, the princess bursts in to see her (she probably wants a shoulder to cry on after the horrible news! So it looks like Eunso has now taken Jinyung’s place as her BFF.) Eunso quickly hides the letter but the princess sees this and is suspicious. She wonders if this is a letter from a lover!
Over at the restaurant, Kibae notices that Daebang’s mother is looking worried (about her son who has gone with the medical party to Qing). He tries to comfort her and she softens towards him (she’s usually rude and off-hand) and she mentions that he must be sad about Kwanghyun too as Kwanghyun was like a son to him. But Kibae admits that he doesn’t believe Kwanghyun is dead. As they sit and talk the chef comes in with a tray of food and drink. But Jabong offers to carry the tray and as they argue over this, the tray falls and the dishes spill all over the floor. Daebang’s mum gets a nasty burn on her hand and Kibae hurries to treat the burn. He splashes some cold water on her hand. (But he’s holding her hand for quite a long time. This is a bit odd. Are we going to see some romance here all of a sudden? What’s going on here?? Never mind holding her hand, put her whole hand in the pot of water!)
Dr Saam shows Kwanghyun the notice about the offer in the capital for a doctor to cure the Empress. If Kwanghyun can successfully cure the disease then this could be his ticket back to Joseon. So they head for the capital. (Beijing)
Meanwhile in the capital, Myunghwan and his entourage arrive at the palace and meet the head of medicine. Again the doctor speaks the Joseon language and he greets Jinyung (she studied with him when she came here years ago and taught him to speak the Joseon language). Myunghwan is taken to meet the patient. She lies quietly in bed as they reveal the (gross) sore on her back. Myunghwan steps back in shock. She has infected bone marrow disease – the same illness that Dr Ko died of. The disease is spreading through her body and they believe there is no cure…
Of course Myunghwan doesn’t know how to treat this illness. Jinyung decides to go to the market and look for medical books that may help as well as herbs. Sungha goes with her. But who should be in the market at the same time? Yes, Kwanghyun. Jinyung leaves Sungha in the bookshop while she goes off to look for herbs. While she’s gone Kayong arrives at the same bookshop and bumps into Sungha (who is looking very fine). She swoons over him and seems to have fallen in love. (Another weird romance scene!) Sungha doesn’t look at her twice though. Jinyung is walking around the market and suddenly sees Kwanghyun in the distance. She hurries after him, but there are too many people in the market and she loses him. Sungha finds her upset and he begs her to forget about Kwanghyun because he’s DEAD. She refuses to believe it.
While Myunghwan gets special treatment at the palace and can directly meet the patient, Kwanghyun is in the ordinary world lining up with other hopeful doctors who came with good recommendations and all ready to compete to find the cure. (Dr Saam got a recommendation from the governor) They are told that they will practise on other patients (guinea pigs!) first. So patients with the same symptoms as the Empress have been gathered together. The doctors are each given a patient to treat. Whoever can cure the patient will be able to examine the Empress! But when Kwanghyun sees his patient, he realises that the disease is the same one that Dr Ko had. He demands to know if Dr Saam knew this already. Of course he did and that’s why he persuaded him to come here. The disease beat him before and was his downfall. But if he can now show that a successful operation is possible, it could mean his triumphant return to Joseon.
Back in Joseon, the princess’ stuff is being packed to send back to the palace. The princess is miserable and goes to visit Eunso. But she’s out at the market so the princess decides to wait in her room. (Oh no!) As she sits in the room alone she can’t resist looking through Eunso’s things. (Who didn’t see this coming?) Of course she finds the letter but at first stops herself from reading it. But she can’t resist. She reads the letter and so discovers that Kwanghyun may still be alive. Just then Eunso returns and the princess rushes out with the letter in her hand demanding to know what’s going on! (Princess, YOU are in the wrong for reading other people’s private letters! Duh!)
Things heat up at the hospital and the race is on. Myunghwan is also trying different treatment on other patients first. He decides to try new prescriptions of herbs and acupuncture. (He doesn’t have much choice really since he can’t do operations!) Meanwhile Kwanghun is still stalling. His patient believes this is because his illness is too serious and he can’t be helped. Kwanghyun explains that he has seen his disease before and operated on the patient but the patient died of tetanus! But he assures the patient that he can treat the tetanus this time. So the patient agrees to have the operation.
Myunghwan’s treatment does nothing. He gets worried that he’s running out of time and someone else might find a cure first. So he sends Guard Kang to have a look around. Meanwhile, Kwanghyun’s operation is successful and he carefully bandages the wound up. Things seem to be going well, but later while getting medicine for his patient he sees Guard Kang snooping around. Guard Kang doesn’t see him though. Kwanghyun is shaken but he has more to worry about when Kayong rushes to find him because his patient has got worse. Kwanghyun hurries to examine him and realises that he has got tetanus after all. :(
***
So Kwanghyun has to face his demons again in the operating room. I’m not a doctor but I don’t understand why during the operation after sterilising the tools with heat he then wipes the tools on a cloth. Surely this is just undoing all the good work? I find this irritating every time he does it!
The most irritating scene though for me in this episode was with the princess and Eunso. Poor Eunso is always so restrained. She is the opposite of the princess. She is quietly waiting to find out if Kwanghun really is alive but the princess is sticking her nose in demanding to know what’s going on. The princess is completely in the wrong here. She should be embarrassed that she has gone through Eunso’s things and read her private letters but instead she marches out and shouts at Eunso. As though Eunso is the one in the wrong! The princess shows that she is still childish and impulsive. I was annoyed with her here. Eunso doesn’t have to tell her anything.
And what was with the suggestions of romance in this episode? For the first time we see Kayong show interest in a man – Sungha. She always treats Kwanghyun like her little brother, and she behaves like a man herself. But suddenly she is swooning over Sungha. Although in fairness, he did look magnificent in that hanbok. (Everyone seems to look better out of Joseon!) His fashion is getting better and better! And then there was that ‘hand holding’ scene between Daebang’s mum and Kibae. Now they really would be the odd couple.
Still Kwanghyun and Myunghwan don’t come face to face although Myunghwan has heard about the ‘Joseon surgeon’. The two men continue practising on patients with their very different treatments. It’s a race against time to see who will find a cure first. When time is up, both patients have seen an improvement. However the Head of Medicine is worried that actually operating on a member of the royal family is a bit too radical ..
Kwanghyun worriedly examines his patient who is showing symptoms of tetanus. And there are more problems waiting for him as right now Guard Kang is snooping around outside – he heard that there is a Joseon doctor here operating on his patient …. But as he is about to open the door to Kwanghun’s treatment room, the Qing guards tell him to leave. Phew! That was close.
Kwanghyun makes a radical decision to operate on the patient AGAIN to remove the area that has become infected. Kayong can’t believe it and tries to dissuade him from operating. (Hang on. First of all Kayong seems to have NO SKILLS in medicine whatsoever so why should Kwanghyun listen to her? And secondly, the patient is going to die if he doesn’t operate, isn’t he? So be quiet, Kayong!) When Kayong complains to Dr Saam about this, he simply laughs. He is obviously interested in Kwanhyun’s alternative thinking and doesn’t want to interfere. He knows Kwanghyun is DETERMINED to beat this disease.
Myunghwan is also rethinking how to treat his patient too since he is not improving. Jinyung watches the medical staff heating medicine over fire which gives her an idea – they can treat the patient with mulberry moxa. She rushes in to tell Myunghwan who is in an emergency meeting with his medical team. He jumps at this idea. (The fact that Jinyung has suggested the moxa makes me think that it could work this time)
Kayong prepares to operate again. This time his instruments are boiling away on the fire to be sterilised. He thinks back to how he treated another patient in the past with the same problem. (He has obviously had a lot more experience since he came to Qing). Meanwhile Myunghwan prepares to treat his patient with moxibustion. But time is running out as the Empress is getting worse.
Back in Joseon …
The king decides to go on a?? (mi-heng = mingling incognito with the commoners outside the palace to find out what’s going on in the real world) This was a common practice with Joseon kings when they wanted to know what their people really thought about their lives – and their king. He turns up at the restaurant where Kibae and Chef have just had a fight over Daebang’s mum! (They are love rivals?!)
The king does his best to act like a fellow citizen and invites Jabong to sit and drink with him. Jabong has no idea he is drinking with the king and tells him that life is hard especially now that the welfare clinic has become too expensive for the ordinary people to go to. He complains that everyone knows how hard life is, except the king. oh :( Jabong keeps trying to grope the soft skin of the king’s face with his greasy fingers to the concern of the king’s body guards!
The princess is bored being back at the palace. Eunso has told her not to say anything about Kwanghyun but the princess is not the type to keep a secret for long. She decides to visit the king who looks deep in thought. The princess wants to test the water and see if there is any way for Kwanghyun to return to Joseon if he is still alive. So she asks the king if Kwanghyun could ever be forgiven for his crime. The king doesn’t understand why she is thinking about a dead man. And he has more important things on his mind – such as the decline of the hospital for the poor and the plight of his people! The king has the weight of the world on his shoulders while the princess has absolutely NOTHING to do. She has such an empty life. I was annoyed with her in the last episode but now I feel sorry for her. She is a widow so can she even get married again? And without having children it seems there is nothing for her to do at all. :(
Back in Qing ….
Myunghwan is startled when his patient is examined by royal doctors – but NOT the Head of Medicine (he has gone to see Kwanghyun first!) Myunghwan is used to only dealing with the top people so now he’s miffed. ha ha :) Kwanghyun’s patient is doing better than Myunghwan’s patient and so it looks like he will be chosen to treat the Empress. But the Head of Medicine is concerned about the patient’s tetanus. And he’s not too happy at the idea of operating on the Empress. And for these reasons it is Myunghwan who is the chosen one. A feast is held in celebration much to Myunghwan and Lord Jung’s delight. (but this seems a bit premature – shouldn’t they celebrate AFTER the Empress is well again?)
Poor Kwanghyun is disappointed. But he still wants to make sure his patient recovers. However, now that a doctor (Myunghwan grrr) has been selected to treat the Empress, the patients are all released in the middle of their treatment! (They really are just guinea pigs to be tested on and then discarded.) Kwanghyun is appalled as his patient has not fully recovered. He hurries to find his patient and takes him (by piggy back) to (I guess) lodgings where he treats him.
Then Kayong mentions that she bumped into the ‘handsome Joseon man’ again at the hospital and that he was with a Joseon nurse who could speak the Qing language very well. Kwanghyun realises that this must be Jinyung. He rushes to find her but she has already left and her boat has set sail. (Kwanghyun and Jinyung have been looking for each other but keeping missing each other – as usual.) He struggles with the guards at the port calling out her name. (I don’t really understand why the guards are holding him back. What is he going to do? Jump in the water and swim after the boat?)
He goes glumly back to his clinic but is distracted again as word has spread about him and more patients come to be treated by him. But then Qing guards arrive to take him away. Is he in trouble again? He is taken to the palace where the Head of Medicine and other important looking people are solemnly gathered. He’s not told where he is or why he’s here. And then a Very Very VIP strides into the room…
***
So it looks as though Kwanghyun may get to treat the Empress after all. It was interesting to see the two different ways that Kwanghyun and Myunghwan attempt to treat their patients. But although Myunghwan was once a cutting edge doctor, he now seems to rely on others for ideas. It’s Jinyung who suggests the moxa after his own prescription of herbs doesn’t work. It looks like he’s been too busy scheming over the years to improve his skills as a doctor.
Kayong’s character
I find Kayong’s character annoying most of the time. She’s like a noisy child. But it’s interesting that she can’t use the honorific form of language-??? chondenmal – suggesting that she has not lived in regular Joseon society or that she shuns social conventions – as even the lowest most uneducated peasant has to be able to speak politely. Kwanghyun has often complained that she speaks down to him in panmal. So although her character is often irritating the ‘panmal scene’ with the Joseon doctors is most amusing:
Comedy scene
Kayong goes to snoop around to find out which doctor is treating the Empress. She bumps into Daebang, Taeju, and their snooty teacher, Dr Kwon. She wants to ask them about the Empress but as Kayong can’t use honorific language she speaks to them casually in?? (panmal). She addresses them as?? no-dul. :) :) (Hey, you lot) As doctors they are not at the VERY top of Joseon society – yangban Confucian scholars were the TOP top – but they are still used to being treated with respect certainly from people like Kayong who would be considered lower on the social scale to them. She points at them ( :) ) and addresses them plainly? (no) YOU. (Priceless.) Dr Kwon can’t believe it. “Did you just call me??” he stammers before collapsing in horror at her rudeness. But she looks bemused as though she has no idea what the problem is here. It seems that in her mind she has simply come for information but these men for some reason are fussing over formalities. I like that they are all so shocked by this. :)
Then she bumps into her crush Sungha again. This time he’s with Jinyung. Sungha (who as a scholar in a government position has a much higher status than the doctors) still manages to hide his surprise better than them at her socially inappropriate behaviour when she points at him and addresses him as?! She should probably bow and address him as??? nauri – Sir. Not ?! YOU.
But as she likes him, she makes an attempt to speak more politely by adding a polite? (yo) at the end of her informal sentences! She ends up with a strange mix of language. Sungha and Jinyung simply look at her as though she is some strange creature from space as she is clearly not trying to be rude on purpose but is unable to communicate properly. We can really see the strict social conventions about using appropriate language in different social classes in this scene. Classic.
Kwanghyun is allowed to treat the Empress. But she is not happy about being operated on by him! Meanwhile in Joseon Jinyung’s plans for a pharmacy for the poor are progressing fast. But Myunghwan discovers what she is up to and is determined to stop her. Finally Kwanghyun finds a way to get back to Joseon.
Kwanghyun falls to his knees when he realises that he is standing in front of the Emperor. The Emperor demands to know if he is the man who can cure the disease that even the Head of Medicine from Joseon couldn’t cure. He is not impressed with Kwanghyun’s appearance (although I quite like his scruffy look). “Are you confident that you can treat the Empress?” he asks Kwanghyun. Of course he is. :)
The Head of Medicine is impressed and amazed that Kwanghyun knows so much about the patient’s symptoms before he even meets her. But her older brother who is a very high ranking official is not impressed. He doesn’t trust Kwanghyun especially when Kwanghyun refuses to tell him what is wrong with the Empress. He is being very secretive about what her illness really is. But if Kwanghyun fails to cure her….. yes, yes, we know – Kwanghyun will pay with his life. Kwanghyun begins a pre-operation treatment of medicine and acupuncture. But the Empress responds badly. She’s in agony and throws the bowl of medicine out of his hand and it smashes on the floor.
But Kwanghyun continues to be very calm and confident preparing medicine. On the other hand, Kayong is fussing and stressing out beside him because he’s being so secretive. (I don’t know why they keep her as an assistant. It must be so stressful working with her!) Kwanghyun calmly tells her to prepare for the operation next morning.
But when he gives the Empress her final batch of medicine before the operation, she throws the bowl right at him in a rage. He calmly sends all the servants out of the room. She shouts at him – she doesn’t want to be cut open. She has travelled around the world and can speak many language (including Joseon language) and she knows what surgery will do to her body. And she would rather die. Kwanghyun soothes her explaining that he realises she doesn’t want to lose the Emperor’s love – with ugly scars. And that’s also why she started taking rhino horn as an aphrodisiac. He knows this because the black pus from the wound on her back was the clue that she had a kidney infection caused by the rhino horn. This has spread to her bones. So that’s why he kept her illness a secret. His understanding of her situation calms her down and she agrees to the operation.
But as he is about to start the operation, he thinks back to what she said – she doesn’t want to have huge scars. So he uses his drill instrument (originally for treating horses!) to perform a kind of keyhole surgery to avoid the huge scars. (Very clever!)
But her brother is still hovering menacingly in the background waiting for Kwanghyun to fail. And when they hear that the Empress has “disappeared” they all rush to her bedside and sure enough she is not there. The Emperor rushes over when he hears this too, and Kwanghyun is about to be thrown in the jail, but then she appears all dressed up in her finery completely cured. She wanted to look nice for her man. Ah. Big brother is suddenly very nice to Kwanghyun too!
A feast is held in celebration and Dr Saam falls around drunk taking credit for Kwanghyun’s success. He was his teacher after all. The Head of Medicine wants Kwanghyun to stay and work with them and offers him a very good position. But Kwanghyun politely refuses because he wants to go home. The Empress meets with him later and promises to help him return to Joseon to be with his love. (We must have jumped ahead quite a few months because the Empress looks at her tiny scars which are all healing nicely.)
Back in Joseon ….
the medical party arrive “triumphantly” back in Joseon. They obviously have no idea what’s going on in Qing and that Myunghwan’s treatment did not cure the Empress after all. :)
The princess can’t wait to talk to Jinyung and rushes to find her asking excitedly if Eunso’s brother found what he was looking for… She doesn’t mention Kwanghyun directly and Jinyung has no idea what she’s talking about! Dusik tells Eunso that he couldn’t find Kwanghun in Qing.
Jinyung meets up with Kibae and Jabong at the restaurant to discuss developments in their pharmacy for the poor. There’s still ‘love rival’ tension between Kibae and the Chef!
But the king is worried about what is happening to the price of herbs and he employs an official to secretly look into the matter. (so does this mean Jinyung or Myunghwan will get in trouble?)
Myunghwun hears that Jinyung has been setting up an illegal private parmacy (???? ????) He challenges her about this and she is unrepentant sure that her father (or the man she thinks is her father) would be proud of her for what she’s doing. Inju and Dr Shin have already handed in their notice at the royal hospital to work with Jinyung. Other doctors and nurses wonder what to do. Should they leave too? But they worry about this positions and status and livelihoods.
Dressed as a boy (her alter ego Yongdal) Jinyung leads the team at night on their next expedition to their suppliers. But there are spies around. And Myunghwan is determined to close the pharmacy down.
Kwanghyun arrives back in Joseon alone quietly by boat. He finds a blue ribbon in the snow – the ribbon that came from Jinyung’s hair. And he holds it as he looks out at the view of his homeland after years away.
***
Time to say good bye to his mentor
The feast of celebration for Kwanghyun feels to me like a kind of graduation ceremony for him. He has spent years studying with Dr Saam in Qing. At first he was deflated and had lost confidence after Dr Ko’s death. And he begged Dr Saam to take him on as his student. But he has studied with his teacher and thanks to him he has finally overcome his biggest fear and faced his demons in the operating room. And he has become a better surgeon than his teacher – even Dr Saam has no problem admitting this. So this means that it’s time to move on. I think Dr Saam knows this too as he happily celebrates Kwanghun’s success by drinking heavily. But there must be some sadness there too knowing intuitively that it is time for them to go their separate ways. At least for now.
After speaking to the Empress at the feast Kwanghyun knows he can go back to Joseon. He watches Dr Saam celebrate whilst thinking back to his life in Joseon and Jinyung. He also knows it’s time to say good bye. But we don’t get to see a sad farewell which suggests that they will probably meet up again in Joseon some day. But things will be different then and so I feel quite sad watching this scene.
Back in Joseon Kwanghyun is keeping a low profile not ready to reveal himself to his loved ones yet. But this doesn’t stop him treating the patients that are getting turned away at Myunghwan’s hospital. Kwanghyun is determined to expose Myunghwan and his dodgy ethics. Meanwhile Jinyung is doing her best at her new hospital to help the poor. But guards have been sent to stop the illegal trade in herbs. Sungha goes to warn Jinyung and protect her but ends up getting injured himself.
The episode begins with Dr Saam and Kayong arriving on a boat back in Joseon. (Oh. I thought they would stay apart from Kwanghyun for a while. OR maybe time has passed now.) Kayong as always is focused on food but her focus has changed from the dumplings of Qing to bulgogi (BBQ beef) of Joseon. As always they have no money but she’s hoping Kwanghyun will be able to look after them now that he has his reward for helping Qing.
At the??? hospital patients queue up and are looked after by Inju and Jinyung. But they are short-handed at the hospital. There are too many patients since Myunghwan still has no interest in helping the poor – or even patients that he doesn’t know how to cure!
But the other doctors are starting to feel bad about this. Daebang secretly gives a patient, who was turned away, some medicinal herbs and sends him to Jinyung’s hospital! A guy with an infected leg gets turned away from the hospital too – and is told that there’s no cure for his illness. But as he leaves, a stranger in a wide-brimmed hat watches him go. I think we can guess who this is!
Everyone is still talking about Kwanghun wondering where he is. Eunso tells the princess that they couldn’t find him in Qing after all. Daebang’s mum feeds Jinyung at the restaurant after a hard day’s work. Chef mentions Kwanghyun’s name and upsets Jinyung.
Talk of the devil: Kwanghyun arrives home and blows out the lantern that Kibae keeps lit for him every night. oh. Then he goes to where Jinyung is working and gazes longingly at her shadow through the wall.
Meanwhile Kayong and Dr Saam arrive at Kwanghyun’s place and Kayong is shocked to see the poor conditions that he lives in – she was expecting him to have a yangban life by now after helping the Qing! But he hasn’t told anyone anything yet and there’s no bulgogi here. (Oh stop going on about food, Kayong.) Kwanghyun has more important things to worry about than bulgogi as he has plans to expose Myunghwan and his dodgy hospital.
Kwanghyun stops the patient who was turned away with the bad leg. After examining him he says he CAN remove the infected area from his leg easily and then he will be fine. The patient can’t believe it. And we see Kwanghyun now confidently do his operation knowing how to sterilise all the instruments properly.
Myunghwan is informed that an important civilian-scholar of the Namin faction (one of the political factions at the time) has arrived at the hospital with his son. He is a VIP and the king himself wants him treated. But when Myunghwan examines him he sees that he has gangrene on his leg. There is nothing Myunghwan can do for him. He is going to die. The official accepts this news stoically. But his son is determined to find someone who can help him. Myunghwan is more worried about how turning a VIP patient away will affect HIM!
Dusik is in charge of stopping the illegal buying of herbs – orders from the king. Of course he doesn’t know that Jinyung is behind this! Sungha realises he is going to send guards after her so hurries to warn her.
Sungha finds Jinyung and warns her and they try to hide the herbs as quickly as they can. Kwanghyun is hiding nearby and sees the guards arrive. He realises Jinyung is in danger and he sets fire to the area to expose the soldiers. Jinyung is led away to safety while Sungha stays behind to fight – but he is only one man against all of them.
Sungha gets injured with a sword and Kwanghyun leaps in to help fight off the men. He takes Sungha piggy back to a cave and saves his life by treating his deep sword wound with herbs he finds in the cave and then sewing it up with Sungha’s own hair! Clever. Jinyung is worried about Sungha and comes looking for him. She follows the trail of Sungha’s blood but when Kwanghyun hears her voice he disappears. Sungha gets taken to hospital but Jinyung seems to know that something is fishy.
Myunghwan is in a rage that someone dared to attack his son. He is also not pleased to hear that some wannabe is treating the patients he is turning away! Who could that be?!
The Namin official’s son manages to get hold of Kwanghyun who comes to examine his leg. There is good news and bad news. The good news is he CAN treat him. The bad news is he will have to amputate his leg …
***
So we have more build up to the final showdown between Kwanghyun and Myunghwan. (This is a long build up!) Kwanghyun seems to be just biding his time and collecting his evidence against Myunghwan, getting ready to expose him for the dodgy doc he really is.
It’s interesting how the drama shows the growing need for surgery at the time – but how the doctors are so against it, even though herbs couldn’t cure everything back then either. The reason for mistrust of surgery had to do with Confucian thinking - as a sign of filial piety the perfect body given by one’s parents should not be altered in any way. But Myunghwan’s reasons for staying away from surgery seem to be based more on playing it safe whilst collecting money from the rich patients rather than any deeper ideological reasons!
The amputation goes ahead, Dusik realises that Sungha is the ‘criminal’ they are looking in relation to the illegal herb trading, and Myunghwan is shocked and dismayed that some quack is out there curing all the patients that he could not! Dr Saam is arrested for this ‘crime’ but he is unrepentant. There is one more big shock in store for Myunghwan when Lord Oh, the Daegam he turned away from the hospital and left to die, arrives at the palace good as new – just missing part of his leg. :)
Lord Oh is shocked when he is told that the only way to save is life is to amputate his leg. Of course he could never consider this option – surgery was unheard of. And so even when Kwanghyun tells him that the gangrene will spread and get worse until it will be too late to cure him, he refuses to have the operation. Apart from not trusting surgery they are also not impressed with Kwanghyun’s scruffy appearance! Kwanghyun leaves but he is worried that if they put off having the operation, it will be too late.
Meanwhile, Myunghwan is LIVID that there is a rumour that someone is curing all the patients that he turned away from the hospital! This is terrible for his hospital’s reputation and he is desperate to find out if this is true, so the staff search through the hospital records looking for the names of the patients so that they can find them. Sure enough the healthy patients are found and arrive at the hospital to show Myunghwan that they are well again – much to his displeasure. (He is not at all pleased that patients who were left to die are now healthy again! Call yourself a doctor Myunghwan? Grrrr) Some of the nurses are afraid that the phantom doctor is really a ghost!
Over at the??? hospital the princess has come to see Sungha who is stable but still unconscious. Kwanghyun has asked Kayong to go and check on him too, so she turns up outside the hospital where Lady Kwak is waiting with Guard Ma for the princess. Kayong in her usual informal (and inappropriate) way asks the ‘adjumma‘ if this is the hospital! Of course Lady Kwak is HORRIFIED to be addressed as ‘adjumma‘ (this is used to address middle-aged ladies and nobody wants to be thought of as middle-aged, do they?) But the princess and Guard Ma don’t help. They merely laugh – well she is an adjumma, isn’t she? (Lady Kwak, I feel your pain :( )
Lord Oh’s symptoms are getting worse and worse. He remembers what Kwanghyun predicted would happen. So he pours hot and then iced water on his leg but he feels nothing – just as Kwanghyun said. He realises that the only thing he can do if he wants to live is have the operation. They call for Kwanghyun.
As the patient lies on the operating table Kwanghyun prepares to operate by treating the leg first with medicine and moxa to stop the blood more quickly. He cuts the flesh with a knife and then prepares to saw through the bone while Lord Oh’s son looks on. Meanwhile soldiers search the area for the rogue doctor who is practising surgery without a licence.
We have a comedy interlude as Chef and Kibae continue to battle over Daebang’s mum’s affections as they both want to invite her to a show. Chef asks Daebang to fix him up with his mum – this doesn’t work. Kibae tries the direct approach by nervously inviting her on a ‘date’ – to watch the???? sa-mul-nor-i percussion quartet that’s coming to town. She seems sorry for him as he’s so nervous and so she says she’ll ‘think about it’. And Kibae seems pleased with this answer.
Dusik is still on the hunt for the man who fought his soldiers at the scene of the illegal herb trading. But he is shocked to see from the (very good) artist’s impression that the criminal appears to be Sungha! He tells his sister Eunso that Jinyung must be involved too. Just then the maid gives them an important letter from Qing. But we are not told what’s in the letter …
Sungha regains consciousness and when Jinyung explains what happened to him and that he was treated by a mystery doctor, he gets a flashback of Kwanghyun …
Dr Saam is arrested for illegally treating patients. Myunghwan doesn’t believe Dr Saam is working alone as the doctor was described as young. But when Myunghwan interrogates him, Dr Saam refuses to give him any information. He is unrepentant and even says (that UNLIKE Myunghwan) HE has done nothing wrong except cure people – which is true :) This just makes Myunghwan even more angry. :)
Inju arrives and recognises Dr Saam. They have worked together before. But Myunghwan and Lord Jung go to plead with the king to punish Dr Saam and his accomplice severely. But commoners gather outside the palace to beg the king to spare the good doctor’s life. But although it was perfectly legal for anyone to stand at the palace gates and call out to the king, guards arrive and forcibly remove the people. Jinyung pleads with the king too.
The king seems unsure about what to do. He doesn’t want to punish the doctor but he can’t ignore Myunghwan’s complaint. But then everything changes: Lord Oh – the man they thought should be dead by now – arrives at the palace and hobbles in before the king! He is healthy, just on crutches. Myunghwan rushes to see this with his own eyes. The king stares in disbelief, since Myunghwan told him that there was NOTHING they could do for Lord Oh. Take that Myunghwan! It’s time for Kwanghyun to come back.
***
So finally it’s time for Kwanghyun’s triumphant return and we can look forward to seeing Myunghwan’s downfall. I like the shock and horror at the end of this episode as Lord Oh makes his dramatic entrance – when everyone thought he was dead!
Once again Kayong shows us how important it was (and still is) to call others by their correct titles in society. She continues her total disregard for social etiquette blissfully unaware that she is making yet another faux pas by calling Lady Kwak ‘adjumma’. When I watched this scene I wondered if the use of adjumma back then really did have negative connotations as it has today. The term adjumma literally means middle-aged woman, but these days it also conjures up images of groups of permed older ladies who push into the front of the line for the bus, hang out in floral comfortable elasticated trousers with other adjumma, talk loudly in groups whilst constantly chewing gum with gusto. This obviously can’t be the adjumma that Lady Kwak is imagining. ;) So was it rude to call ladies adjumma in Joseon? Or is she just worried about the age connotation? I don’t know.
So the day is finally here – It’s time for Kwanghyun to make his triumphant entrance back in Joseon. Myunghwan is having a nightmare over the Lord Oh situation, but he’s not beaten yet. Even when the hospital is under inspection and it seems sure that his career is over, he still sneakily schemes to find a way out of this.
Myunghwan collapses in disbelief at the sight of Lord Oh. But it gets worse. The king hears what happened from Lord Oh – he had his leg amputated but otherwise he’s fine. :) After EVERYONE told him it was hopeless! The king calls to Myunghwan demanding an explanation. But Myunghwan doesn’t have one. The only thing he can say is that it must be?? sa-sul witchcraft! The king is very upset and decides he must have a look at Lord Oh himself!
He storms over to the hospital and takes a look at Lord Oh’s leg. He wants to know if Lord Oh is really cured or not. Myunghwan doesn’t know what to say. But Jinyung marches forward explaining that Lord Oh IS CURED and that it was not?? sa-sul, witchcraft, but?? ui-sul – medical practice. The king is shocked and Myunghwan is dismayed (Jinyung seems to have no loyalty to Myunghwan now. If she did, she would be more diplomatic about this situation.)
The king orders the Board of Audit and Inspection to inspect the hospital. A high ranking official marches in to Myunghwan’s office showing his ID badge and soon after all the records start to be moved out of the hospital. Myunghwan looks worried. Meanwhile commoners are causing chaos in the hospital grounds complaining at the lack of care. In the background we see Kwanghyung quietly watching the scene.
The princess is in her palanquin hurrying to see Eunso who has called her urgently. Eunso shows her the letter they received which confirms that Kwanghyun is still alive. The princess is over the moon but emotional. She’s happy that Kwanghyun is safe but knows that he has not come back for her. :(
Dr Saam is released from prison and Kayong gives him fresh tofu to eat. (Read about why people eat tofu when they come out of prison). Inju and Jinyung rush to see him too. But he is not worried about what will happen to him. He tells Inju that the doctor who has been curing all the patients is someone who she knows too.
Meanwhile Jinyung tries to talk to Kayong – the atmosphere is a bit awkward though! Kayong as always prattles away to her in panmal informal speech. Jinyung seems bemused by her behaviour but she also wants to find out if she knows something about Kwanghyun. She asks who the mystery doctor is but Kayong loyally says that she has been sworn to secrecy and so can’t reveal his identity. Although she does mention his surname by mistake. Duh!
Comedy scene – Kibae and Chef are at the restaurant. Daebang’s mum ignores Chef and rushes over to say hello to Kibae. But the two men’s attention soon changes to Kwanghun and they forget about their rivalry. But she is not pleased when their attention moves away from her and she points out that Kwanghyun is DEAD. (Am a bit slow? I think I’ve only just realised that she is just playing a game here. I don’t think she is really interested in either of these men. She just enjoys watching them fight over her!) Kibae is ‘passionately’ adamant that Kwanghyun is not dead. And the atmosphere turns sour…
Sungha is out of hospital but guards are after him. Dusik grabs him to hide him – cute. He shows Sungha the likeness of him and explains that he’s a wanted man. Sungha doesn’t want Jinyung to know anything about this. Dusik tells him that Kwanghyun is still alive.
Back home Jabong is getting frustrated with Kibae too, because he won’t give up on the idea that Kwanghyun is still alive. But Kibae notices that the light outside their house has been lit and neither of them lit it. Who put the light on, they wonder? I did, a voice replies and a figure appears from the darkness – guess who! Kibae and Jabong fall back in shock when they find Kwanghyun standing in front of them. There’s an emotional reunion. But Kibae is worried about Kwanghyun being back in Joseon. (he doesn’t know what happened in Qing or that he’s a nobleman.)
Jinyung gets to have a look at the medical notes written by the doctor who treated Lord Oh. She recognises Kwanghyun’s writing and realises that he’s the mysterious doctor. She gets out the sandal again (yes, yes, we know you haven’t forgotten him.) The princess arrives to tell her that Kwanghyun is back but Jinyung admits she already ‘knows’ he’s back.
Myunghwan is trying to find a way to wriggle out of this terrible situation he is in. He wants to put the blame on to others. The king is upset with Myunghwan now and wants him punished. But Tebi mama reminds him that he did heal the crown prince when he was seriously ill.
Kwanghyun goes off in the night to a meeting with Qing officials. On his way home afterwards he is followed by Guard Kang and his men. They attack him but then Qing guards arrive and there’s a fight. Kang and his men are over-powered. And Kwanghyun reveals himself to him.
And now for the moment we’ve all been waiting for…
I love how Myunghwan is so cocky and arrogant right now when he hears that representatives from Qing have arrived. He thinks they have come to officially thank him for his efforts in saving the Empress. But of course we know better. First Sungha comes to tell him that Kwanghyun is still alive. (He must feel that he has to warn his father, unlike Jinyung who has totally turned away from him)
A feast is held – Myunghwan thinks it is in his honour ;) – and the king is told that of course Qing wants to thank Joseon for helping the empress. Myunghwan smiles again. But his smile is wiped away when he hears that after he left Qing the empress got sick again. So it wasn’t him who saved her at all, but ‘another’ Joseon doctor who performed surgery. Who could that be? Drum roll and enter ……Kwanghyun. Everyone is in shock. Love it.
What plans does Kwanghyun have in store for Myunghwan?
***
So at last Kwanghyun is back. But will the king accept him easily? He helped the Empress of Qing but he is still a fugitive in Joseon. I liked the pomp and circumstance of his entrance. He has a new confidence now too that he will be able to bring down Myunghwan. But we still have 15 episodes to go so he is not going to bring him down so easily …
The best piece of acting and most moving scene in this episode for me definitely comes from Kibae when he he discovers that Kwanghyun is still alive. :)
But Myunghwan certainly goes through extremely different emotions in this episode. He starts off looking shocked at the arrival of Lord Oh. Then fear seems to take over as he is concerned about his career. Then he acts smug and confident when he thinks the Qing envoys have come to reward him for curing the empress. But he falls into disbelief when he’s told that Kwanghyun is still alive. And then finally he looks horrified when Kwanghyun enters the palace. He’s had a busy day. :)
It’s all about the return of Kwanghyun in this episode. And all the different reactions to it! Myunghwan is outraged, Sungha seems glad but also disappointed – surely he knows this is the end of any chance he had with Jinyung. (Although he should have realised this before) Many are pleased to see Kwanghyun including the princess. But of course the main event is an emotional reunion with Jinyung. Myunghwan and Kwanghyun face each other for the first time too. But attention turns to the hospital as another medical crisis hits the country...
Everyone is shocked at the feast when the Qing diplomat introduces Kwanghyun as the doctor who saved the empress (not Myunghwan) Oh the uproar! There are mixed reactions around the court as everyone realises that Kwanghyun is alive! Later the diplomat tries to defend Kwanghyun’s return to Joseon, explaining to the king how he saved many lives in Qing and has an amazing gift as a doctor. But what will the king do – technically Kwanghyun is still a fugitive, right?
There is shock around the hospital as everyone realises that Kwanghyun was the mysterious doctor healing all the patients that Myunghwan and his hospital couldn’t help. But Kwanghyun is not safe yet. He is sent for by the king who must decide his fate. The king asks him WHY he came back to Joseon when he knew he could be punished. His answer moves the king – he explains that he came back because of Dr Ko. Dr Ko told him not to give up. And that there’s work to be done at the hospital to develop surgery. Kwanghyun is still clearly devastated over the death of Dr Ko. And after Kwanghyun leaves, the king is deep in thought.
Over at the restaurant Dae Bang’s mother is feeling neglected as the chef and Kibae rush off to see Kwanghyun. Eunso and her brother can’t wait to see him either. Meanwhile, Kayong and Dr Saam turn up at the hospital. Taeju and Daebang are surprised to see them again. (But does Taeju seem a bit interested in Kayong? He grins when he sees her! Now they would make a strange couple! Her masculine character seems to amuse him as she introduces herself as Kwanghyun’s?? sonbae.)
And now for the main event - the reunion of Jinyung and Kwanghyun. To a background of snow and nostalgic music, Kwanghyun and Jinyung rush around outside looking for each other. As Jinyung stands tearfully on the bridge, a familiar voice behind her asks “Are you looking for me?” She recognises his voice and her eyes swell with tears. Kwanghyun wonders if it’s too late. Has he made her wait too long? Has she forgotten him? No, she says. She knew he would come back. They hug and cry, but at the same time in another part of court Sungha stands outside alone in the cold staring into space. :(
And now for main event 2: The showdown between Kwanghyun and Myunghwan. Kwanghyun calmly walks into Myunghwan’s office with a new confidence (he would never have done something like this before he left Joseon.) Myunghwan is livid that he is there. But Kwanghyun has a message for him – he intends to take everything away from Myunghwan – and THAT is the reason he is back. (not the only reason, though …)
Kwanghun leaves the office and bumps into Sungha. There’s a different mood now – Kwanghyun is respectful to him and bows – unlike he did to Myunghwan. He obviously respects Sungha but their meeting is strained. Sungha thanks Kwanghun for saving his life but the conversation quickly turns to Jinyung. Sungha doesn’t want Kwanghyun to see Jinyung because he’s worried that the truth will come out and then Jinyung will be ruined. Kwanghyun quickly assures him that he has no intention of going after his title and so Jinyung is safe. HE will protect her. (Oh these words are like a stab through the heart for Sungha. Because Kwanghun’s words show that he has taken over from Sungha in looking after Jinyung. And by the look on Sungha’s face as he watches Kwanghyun walk away, he is well aware of what this means) :(
Kwanghyun stands staring around at the clinic and thinks back to Dr Ko’s words and vision. The king has made some changes at the hospital. Myunghwan’s crew is out and there is a new???? (che-jo yong-gam) head of hospital. And Kwanghyun is formally introduced as the new surgical specialist doctor, level 7. (That is a serious promotion!) The hospital was going downhill but it will now follow Dr Ko’s vision. :)
Sungha tries to hand in his notice to the king. (He really is having a miserable time these days. He did his best to help Jinyung which has left him on the verge of ruining his career. And still he can’t win her heart.) He explains his role in the smuggling herbs saga and shows the king the wanted poster of himself. But the king merely chuckles – he knew about this all along. So Sungha doesn’t have to quit after all.
At the restaurant there’s a celebration, but Dae Bang’s mum is not impressed at having to pay for a party to celebrate Kwanghyun’s return – she is clearly not moved at the fact that he is still alive. (This probably has something to do with not knowing that he is a yangban! She is such a snob.) She is still in a mood that Kibae and Chef forgot about their ‘date’ to the folk show too!
And now for a couple of sweet scenes. First the princess gives Kwanghyun a present – doctor’s robes. She’s grown up and accepts his (unofficial) relationship with Jinyung. Kwanghyun arrives back at the hospital carrying the princess’ gift but when he sees Jinyung, he tries to ‘hide’ it behind his back! Of course Jinyung knows that the princess likes him and wanted to give him a present. ‘Aren’t you jealous?’ he asks in disbelief. She just laughs! :(
Jinyung asks Kwanghyun to call her by her first name – Jinyung. She has never heard him do that before as he never speaks to her in informal speech. (He called her by her nickname Yongdal when they were kids and ‘nurse’ as an adult.) So a little embarrassed, he has a go and calls out her name – Jinyung- ah. They both giggle. She kisses him on the cheek but he grabs her and kisses her properly on the lips. ooooooh!
A famine in the country is causing all sorts of sicknesses. Dr Saam laments if they could only get their hands on a rare medical book lost during the Japanese invasions (1592-1598) then they could find a cure.
Meanwhile a mystery man arrives. He wears the incognito hat and carries medical instruments. Secretly he sets out his tools and performs an autopsy on a dead body! (Autopsy was a no-no at the time) And by his side he has THE MEDICAL BOOK. Over at the clinic Kwanghyun looks around as though he senses something…
***
Kwanghyun’s return has had a dramatic effect – the hospital has been revamped with a new head and we could say that Myunghwan has gone from hero to zero now that everyone knows he DIDN’T cure the empress after all! Even his right hand man – Guard Kang – is out of the picture since he was caught by Qing guards last episode, leaving Myunghwan weaker. I have to say I much prefer this confident Kwanghyun though.
I thought these scenes were sweet and moving. His coming up behind her on the bridge, her telling him she knew he’d be back. etc. Then the scene in the hospital later when Kwanghyun tries to hide the princess’ present from Jinyung as though they are already a young married couple at the beginning of their relationship where the husband still doesn’t know how his wife will react when he gets attention from another woman! Jinyung is super-confident though and is not jealous at all, much to Kwanghyun’s disappointment!
They are finally able to continue their relationship from where they left off – it was so long ago now I can hardly remember, but didn’t Jinyung only discover that Kwanghyun was her childhood friend just before he left Joseon? So he has always spoken to her in formal speech- her social level was so much higher than his. But now she asks him to call her by her first name. So he calls her Jinyung-ah (the ending ‘ah’ is always added to Korean first names when using pan-mal, informal speech. It changes slightly depending on whether the name ends on a vowel or a consonant – it sounds more like ‘ya’ when added to a name ending in a vowel. This ending is not added to foreign names though)
They giggle because he says her name softly and uses informal speech for the first time. And this shows how their relationship has become more intimate. ;)
I feel bad for Sungha but really his role is a miserable one, isn’t it? I’ve run out of sympathy for him and really want him to STOP DREAMING about Jinyung and get ON WITH YOUR LIFE. Too harsh?
Everyone is getting sick now, including the crown prince. But the king no longer trusts Myunghwan and puts Kwanghyun in charge of the prince’s treatment. The mystery man is stirring things up and dissecting more dead bodies. And it seems he wants to be Myunghwan’s ally. Kwanghyun operates on the prince but the mystery man correctly predicts that the operation will not go well …
A dead body is discovered under the snow by local children playing outside. Dusik and his team turn up to investigate and they are horrified to discover that the body has been dissected and the internal organs removed. Dr Saam sees the body and looks alarmed too.
There is chaos at the hospital as more patients die. Poor Taeju is very upset that they can’t save their patients. The doctors can’t cure the serious abscesses and surgery is still dangerous. So more patients get worried and leave the hospital, afraid to be operated on. Even Jabong complains of pain but is terrified of having surgery – luckily he only has a minor boil on his bum (still quite painful though :( )
An emergency meeting is held and of course Team Myunghwan are quietly pleased that things are not going well and the hospital is losing money. (they are only worried about THE MONEY!)
The princess fusses over silks that she has ordered for Jinyung’s wedding to Kwanghyun – although the wedding hasn’t been announced! She has even checked with the fortune teller on auspicious days for the wedding day! But Eunso wonders whether Jinyung will really be able to marry Kwanghyun since, even though he’s not a peasant any more, Jinyung is still a lot socially higher ranked than him. (I suppose this conversation is meant to remind us that most characters don’t know the true story about Kwanghyun’s heritage yet!) The princess says if Jinyung doesn’t want him, then SHE will have him instead :D (So she hasn’t given up completely, then?!)
Myunghwan is still scheming and seems to be planning to use Jinyung to get to Kwanghyun. But Kwanghyun has his own troubles. He is sick. But he has a plan and after taking sick leave from the hospital, he gets meat and oil from the chef and takes it up to a mountain hideaway. On the way he bumps into the strange man who seems to recognise him.
The dodgy looking man (he has a scar on his eye so he must be a villain;) ) visits a government official who asks him if he is the monk who buries the dead. Yes, he replies, although he doesn’t look like a monk. He is told that they have a lot of work for him to do…
Dr Saam tells Kayong that Choi Hyong Gui is back in Joseon. Dr Saam must have realised this when he saw the dissected body in the snow. Kayong is filled with dread. ‘Not that crazy man?’ she says.
Meanwhile, Dusik shows Kwanghyun the body and the dissected area. They are shocked but the coroner’s records show that this is not the first time that this has happened.
Talk of the devil, the dodgy man Choi Hyong Gui lets himself into the morgue and after reading the medical notes he seems amused that the doctors can’t cure such simple and easily curable diseases. (He obviously has some issues with the doctors at the hospital!) Again he calmly cuts open one of the bodies.
The crown prince is sick again and Myunghwan has been treating him, but the prince is not getting any better – he has an abscess on his face. But now the king doesn’t trust Myunghwan’s treatment.
Jinyung goes looking for Kwanghyun in his mountain hideaway. First she finds the leftovers of meat and alcohol. And then she finds Kwanghyun and sees the infected abscesses on his arm. She realises he’s trying to make his condition worse: He wants to experiment on himself before trying his new treatment out on his patients. But Jinyung is mad with him because he could die doing this. So she drags him back to the hospital.
The head eunuch arrives at the hospital with the king’s orders – Kwanghyun is now in charge of treating the crown prince. But can he do this with his bad arm? The prince’s condition is worse than expected so the king is even prepared to let him be operated on.
So even though the queen mother is not keen for Kwanghyun to operate on the prince, the operation goes ahead. And of course Myunghwan is FUMING. But since it was the king’s orders, there’s nothing he can do. The mystery man Choi approaches Myunghwan and announces that Myunghwan’s luck will change now that he has arrived! His arrogance annoys Myunghwan. But Choi also predicts that Kwanghyun will not be able to do the operations successfully because he doesn’t know the secret…
At first it seems that the operation on the crown prince is a success. But suddenly afterwards, the wound won’t stop bleeding. Kwanghyun frantically tries to stop the bleeding but it won’t stop. He’s cut an artery. So it looks like the prediction by the mystery man was right after all! :o
***
So will this be the final crisis that Kwangyun will have to face before he can defeat Myunghwan, become the Royal Physician and marry Jinyung? Myunghwan has been getting weaker since the announcement that it was Kwanghyun who cured the empress in Qing and not Myunghwan. And so of course Lord Jung has been quick to turn away from him too. But with the arrival of the evil and arrogant mystery man Choi, it does seem that Myunghwan now has another chance to get his reputation back on track. And that can only be bad news for Team Kwanghyun.
I know this is a medical drama but am I the only one is getting a bit tired of seeing the operations so close up? We’ve seen lots of surgery now involving scraping away horrible pus (don’t eat your dinner whilst watching this) and so I think by now we can imagine what’s happening without having to actually see it. So I say, please oh please, no more close ups of pus PLEASE. Thank you.
I was dreading watching this episode – lots of blood and Kwanghyun on the verge of disaster again! We’ve had the prediction (from Choi) that the operation on the prince is not going to go well and sure enough the wound won’t stop bleeding. Of course Myunghwan is waiting in the background prepared to do ANYTHING to make sure that Kwanghyun fails to save the prince. He’s so desperate he even calls for the help of the ‘crazy man’ Choi…
Kwanghyun is panicking in the operating room as he can do nothing to stop the bleeding wound of his patient, the prince. The atmosphere is tense as he tries all different kinds of herbs. But as Choi also predicted, nothing works. Only acupuncture will do the trick and Choi is sure that even if Kwanghyun is aware of the acupuncture treatment, he won’t have the skills to do it as it’s such a difficult procedure. The king has been told that the operation was a success but now Lord Jung seems to enjoy telling the royal family that there is a problem and the prince is in danger.
But Choi has underestimated Kwanghyun who remembers an acupuncture treatment that could work – Dr Saam’s own technique. But it’s a very hard technique and could be dangerous. It’s also difficult for Kwanghyun to carry out the procedure as he is in pain himself. Everyone waits anxiously to see if he can do it. Even Myunghwan appears in the doorway to watch.
There’s an intense atmosphere. Is this really possible? Can he stop the blood with acupuncture? Of course he CAN! ;) The procedure is successful and finally the bleeding stops. (What a relief! I couldn’t stand looking at that bloody wound for much longer! :( ) Myunghwan’s face is a picture when he realises that Kwanghyun’s done it!
But as soon as he’s finished, Kwanghyun collapses with pain and exhaustion. He has to be carried piggy-back to hospital and operated on ASAP. Taeju gets ready to do the operation. Meanwhile, Choi comes to take a look around court, but is surprised that everyone there is still so calm. He must have been expecting chaos by now and for the prince to be in critical condition or worse …
Taeju is ready to do the operation but at the last minute he backs out. (What? The confident Taeju is too nervous to do the op? What’s going on?) So Jinyung steps in and does the operation in his place!
Eunso visits the princess to chat about the success of the operation while their servants wait outside. Is Guard Ma flirting with Eunso’s lady-in-waiting? They smile and giggle at each other much to Lady Kwak’s discomfort! But the other ‘love triangle’ over at the restaurant between Kibae, the chef and Daebang’s mum is not going well either as she is still annoyed at being second to Kwanghyun! (You’d think she could have been a little pleased when he came back from the dead! And I wish Jabong would stop eating like that. :o )
Dr Saam visits Choi and demands to know why he’s come back to Joseon. Choi admits that it’s because of HIM (his ex-teacher). Choi wants to see him and his new student fail. And he has the precious medical book which has the ‘secret’ to curing the prince’s illness. So Choi is an ex-student who Dr Saam ‘fired’ because he was not fit to be a doctor as he didn’t care about his patients (no wonder gets along with Myunghwan! Birds of a feather…)
Kwanghyun recovers and gets back to treating the prince. He makes the prince a brine bath so that the salts and herbs will act as an antibiotic and help him recover. But Choi predicts that Kwanghyun will reach a point where he doesn’t know what to do with the prince because his condition is so serious – the wound is very deep.
As predicted, the prince seems to be getting better except he has chest problems – maybe he still has an infection. Kwanghyun tries another prescription. Meanwhile Sungha worriedly comes to the hospital to see how things are going and Kayong suddenly turns all girly when she sees him and tries her best to be feminine and speak politely :D
After this treatment the prince develops a fever. And Kwanghyun is running out of ideas to treat him. Then over at the hospital he looks over the herbs and has an idea. But although the prescription he wants to use is a good antibiotic, it’s also dangerous. He hesitates to use it. But then he looks at the ash left after heating the medicines. And he has another idea…
Kwanghyun seems confident this time but will he have enough time to carry out the treatment as Myunghwan has already been to see the queen mother and has promised her on HIS LIFE that he can cure the prince? He must really be desperate now as he puts his trust in a ‘doctor’ he doesn’t know – because it’s not Myunghwan who is going to cure the prince: It is Choi! And Choi arrives at the palace looking very pleased with himself as he prepares to meet the king.
Choi has something against Dr Saam and now is ready for revenge
***
So it’s the disgruntled ex-student of Dr Saam who has come back to cause problems. And Myunghwan really must be desperate right now to allow a ‘doctor’ he knows NOTHING about to help him cure the crown prince of Joseon! This must be the final step before Myunghwan’s downfall, surely?
I feel bad for Sungha though because when his father is disgraced, the whole family name will be disgraced too – and that includes Sungha who has been good as gold all the way through. Aigoo. Poor old Sungha :( He is the most tragic figure in this whole drama.
This episode was very intense – perhaps the most intense episode so far. I really felt like someone could come in and drag Kwanghyun away from the operating table any minute and put the baddie Choi in charge instead. And that could still happen. We’ll have to wait and see…
So now there is a race to see who can treat the crown prince first. Will it be our man Kwanghyun or the evil-looking and mysterious newcomer Choi? The tension and pressure of finding a cure for the prince is broken with humour as the princess continues searching for a wedding gift for Jinyung – much to the bride-to-be’s embarrassment! Kwanghun has more knowledge and skills than Choi expected and has an idea how to cure him. But just as the crown prince starts to recover, another crisis takes over in the city – an outbreak of smallpox.
The queen mother listens to Myunghwan’s pleas to remove Kwanghyun as the crown prince’s doctor. He appears SO confident HIS MAN KNOWS how to cure the prince that the queen mother marches over to speak to the king. (She seems to be looking for any excuse to remove Kwanghyun, though). But the king is not keen to let an unknown doctor from outside take over.
When Kwanghyun hears what’s going on, he rushes over to the prince’s side, but Choi is ALREADY inside and sitting next to the prince. Myunghwan stands outside as though guarding the entrance. But it seems that Team Myunghwan have not actually received permission from the king to treat the prince yet, they have just barged their way in since the queen mother is supporting them. So an argument takes place between the two sides.
Kwanghyun demands to know how Myunghwan and his doctor intend to treat the prince. Myunghwan is looking very smug as Choi comes outside hearing them arguing. They discuss their ideas for treatments. Choi is confident that Kwanghyun doesn’t have as much knowledge as he does so he thinks Kwanghyun should simply step aside and allow him to look after the prince!
But Choi is shocked to hear Kwanghyun’s proposal for treatment – he will use toad venom ash (he got the idea from looking at the ash in the fire – not from a book). Choi didn’t think he had so much knowledge. So they BOTH have the same idea for treating the prince. Myunghwan on the other hand doesn’t care how they are going to cure the prince. He just wants to make sure that Kwanghyun is out and Choi is in! And that HE gets credit for curing the prince! Grrr.
The king overhears the conversation and puts Kwanghyun back in charge. :) Kwanghyun’s main concern is to cure the prince. He’s not bothered about getting credit for doing this. So he decides to use Choi’s medicine, (it must already be prepared) as it will take too long for Kwanghyun to make the same medicine himself from scratch.
The prince starts to recover and everyone is discussing WHO saved the prince – was it Kwanghyun or was it Choi? Team Myunghwan congratulate themselves but Choi is not satisfied with this result – he obviously wanted a clear win! Yes, his medicine was used, but Kwanghyun knew the toad secret so Choi hasn’t proved that he is the BEST! ;) Choi feels even more competitive towards Kwanghyun now.
Now that the crisis with the prince is over we have a little comedy interlude before the next problem arises. The princess takes Jinyung shopping at the fabric store. She wants to get her a new hanbok wedding dress! Jinyung is shocked and embarrassed – who am I supposed to be marrying? she asks. (Come on Jinyung, like you don’t know the answer to that! But in fairness, they have not talked of marriage yet!)
Later when Jinyung sees Kwanghyun she feels embarrassed again – she must be remembering the wedding talk! He teases her that she is blushing because of HIM. Flustered, she complains of being hot even though it’s so cold they can see their own breath! He chases her outside still teasing her. And of course Sungha appears and sees them together. He looks at them glumly. (But would they really be flirting together so openly at the hospital? I think this over-the-top ‘flirting’ is quite out of character for them and every time they do it it’s obvious that the next shot will be of Sungha!)
Sungha has drinks with Dusik. He’s still glum and repeats that there is NO WAY that Jinyung can marry Kwanghyun. His father would never allow it. Storming out he bumps into Eunso and tells her to stop the princess from encouraging this marriage between Jinyung and Kwanghyun. He explains that there is a GOOD REASON why they can NEVER marry.
While the princess is out looking for more presents for Jinyung, she comes into contact with a commoner. At first she’s afraid of him, but then looking closely she sees that he’s sick. We see a kind side of her now as she wants to help him. But she probably shouldn’t get too close. This is the first sign of troubles ahead. But meanwhile unaware that anything is wrong, Kwanghyun is with the king getting praised for his efforts with the prince.
We’ve had a taste of the crisis that is to come. But first we have another bit of comedy. The nurses tease their teacher because they think he fancies Kayong. Kayong is mortified to think that this guy is interested in her. (And Taeju seems unhappy to hear this news too!) She hides from him when he comes looking for her. But he’s only being nice to her because he wants to join Team Kwanghyun. (He is such a creep! He has left the sinking ship of Team Myunghwan and is now trying to board the ship of team Kwanghyun. Duh!) But they are all distracted when they hear that Choi has arrived at the clinic as a new DOCTOR.
Kwanghyun tells Choi that he won’t allow any of his funny business at the clinic. He obviously thinks that Choi lacks morals or heart as a doctor. But Choi says they are no different: Kwanghyun may be a caring doctor but he is also desperate to cure his patients. And if he can’t cure them (like Dr Ko) what will he do next time? Will he do ANYTHING? (even if it’s dodgy?) Choi predicts that he will …
At the restaurant Kibae turns up with a gift for Daebang’s mum – a wooden comb. But it’s so busy at the restaurant and customers are complaining that they are not getting served. The waiter looks terrible. He’s feverish and covered in red marks. He collapses on the floor – and in horror everyone realises he has smallpox. The others are too afraid to go near the sick man, and the customers run away from the restaurant. But Kibae bravely ties the cloth (used to wrap the comb) around his face like a mask and carries the sick man to the hospital on his back. The comb gift just falls to the ground forgotten. There are more important things to think about now.
Guards are sent out to seal off areas of the city. People are not allowed to leave the capital. But of course there is always a yangban who wants special treatment. But with Sungha and Dusik in charge, there are no special cases! NO ONE CAN LEAVE :)
The commoner that the princess met is also diagnosed with smallpox. When Kwanghyun hears this he rushes over to see the princess. She is packing getting ready to evacuate with the others from the palace but she is already feverish and unwell. He hears a crash coming from inside her quarters. He rushes in and finds her collapsed on the floor. She’s sick too.
Choi is the new baddie in town but so far he is still a step up from Myunghwan! He wants revenge on Dr Saam but only to prove that he is the better doctor! At least he wants to prove his medical skills. Myungwan doesn’t seem to care about his actual job – he seems to have forgotten that he is a DOCTOR and he doesn’t care who dies as long as he is still in power. When Kwanghyun was stressing over trying to stop the bleeding from the prince’s operation, Myunghwan looked as though he was hoping that the prince would die. He really is getting more and more despicable. I can’t say that we’ve seen a kind heart in Choi either and Dr Saam clearly thinks he is heartless. But at least he takes his work seriously – finding cures for diseases – even if the reason is to massage his own ego.
Every time I mention Sungha I have to add ‘poor old Sungha’ :( I wish he could have more of a storyline than just being the guy who has the role of reminding us that Jinyung is NOT a yangban but a commoner.
Oh the saddest episode so far. The princess is sick and everyone is dying of smallpox at the hospital. They can’t find a cure and it’s spreading fast. But Choi takes advantage of the situation using the princess’ sickness to his own advantage..
Guard Ma rushes to tell the King that the princess is sick. The king is devastated: she has smallpox and there is nothing they can do to cure that. Lady Kwak is crying and in a panic too. (So sad that her maid is upset.)
The queen mother rushes over to see her and is greeted by Kwanghun. But she gets angry when she sees him and blames him for the princess getting sick! Kwanghyun looks mortified too. (BTW why are only the guards and maids actually wearing masks? The main characters don’t wear the masks even when they are next to the sick patients – just like action films when only the extras are wearing helmets or safety wear. The main characters never do! ;) )
The hospital is in chaos as more and more patients are arriving but can’t be saved. The smug Dr Choi treats the patients coldly – wanting to take them to the morgue before they are dead! He explains that there is nothing they can do for them anyway so what’s the point of having them in the hospital! His lack of compassion for the patients annoys Kwanghyun and they get into an argument. Choi taunts Kwanghyun challenging him to cure all the patients – but of course Kwanghyun can’t.
Choi mentions Kwanghyun’s ‘close’ relationship with the princess. He makes a joke about her illness (the nickname for smallpox was ma-ma and since ‘the princess is also addressed as ma-ma’, he says something like “Ma-ma has got ma-ma”) Kwanghyun desperately searches through medical books but can’t find anything.
The people in the community are trying to do what they can to stop getting sick. At the restaurant they make red bean soup for everyone as this is supposed to be good. Kibae arrives home to find their house unofficially ‘cordoned off’. The ropes are not official government ones so he rushes into the house wondering what’s going on. He finds Jabong hiding inside desperately stuffing his face with chilli and garlic in an attempt to ward off the smallpox. He’s even wrapped himself up in the official government signs and ropes – (although apart from a comic purpose, I don’t know what good that will do!) And Chef Oh thinks wearing his boss’ bright hanbok will stop him getting sick – much to her disgust!
Kwanghyun looks after the princess and thinks back to all the times he spent with her – this is so sad :( But there is nothing he can do for her as more patients die at the hospital too.
But then finally there is some good news. The first patient that was diagnosed with the smallpox – the patient that the princess met in the market – is showing signs of improvement. Kwanghyun realises that they didn’t know he had smallpox so they must have treated him differently to the other patients. So Kwanghyun searches for the medical notes for the patient to find out what treatment was used. And he comes up with a plan -they must first treat the fever.
Eunso goes to the palace to see the princess. But Lord Jung is hiding at home and hasn’t been to court since the outbreak of the pox. He is obviously nervous about catching it! Another yangban bribes his way out of the quarantined area. Meanwhile Sungha arrives with more medicinal herbs. Kayong gathers the poor commoners together and shows them the different herbs that they need. The locals then go up on the mountain and dig for more herbs. So while our yangban are either hiding or making the situation worse by bribing their way out of quarantine possibly spreading the disease, the poor are doing what they can to help – working outside in the cold.
The princess starts to improve too and everyone takes a sigh of relief. Except Choi who sees an opportunity. He knows that Myunghwan will hate to see Kwanghyun succeed again, so he persuades him that they should make the princess SICK again so that he – Choi – will be the ONLY ONE who can cure her. Of course this would be good news for Myunghwan too! (That really is dirty.)
Sure enough Guard Ma and Lady Kwak soon tell Kwanghyun that the princess’ condition is suddenly worse. Kwanghyun is taken by surprise as over at the hospital everyone is getting better. She can’t breathe properly which is life-threatening and there is nothing they can do.
Myunghwan updates the king on the situation and explains that his man Choi knows how to cure the princess although it is a difficult operation. The king has no choice but to agree. So Choi is allowed in to operate on the princess. But first Choi tells Kwanhyun that he has the precious medical book they need and that this operation will be his first! So he is going to practise on the princess. But Kwanghyun has to let him operate as he has no other ideas.
It looks like Choi’s days are numbered though as Sungha has heard about the dangerous operation he is planning to do on the princess’ throat: how could he do this operation if he had not seen inside a corpse? Sungha realises that Choi must be the man who did the dissection on the body they found in the snow.
In the meantime, Kayong is outside and notices a strange smell. At first the teacher thinks she can smell him since he hasn’t been washing to avoid catching the pox! But she follows the smell into the princess’ quarters and realises that there is musk on the floor! (Thanks to her strong sense of smell she was the only one who noticed this – i think she is in the wrong profession: she should be a chef.)
Kayong rushes over to show Kwanghyun what she found. Musk makes smallpox worse. They also hear that Choi was in the princess’ quarters the night before. Quickly Kwanghyun realises that Choi must have made the princess’ condition worse ON PURPOSE. Kwanghyun rushes over to stop the operation going ahead …
This was the most moving episode for me by far. I shed a tear too when Lady Kwak rushed across court in tears desperately looking for doctors to help after the princess was diagnosed with smallpox. And it makes Choi look even more heartless that he is going to experiment on the innocent princess. If the procedure was necessary and this was his first attempt then that is fair enough. (Kwanghyun has had to do lots of dangerous operations for the first time) But this operation wasn’t necessary. He has created this situation on purpose – absolutely unforgivable! :(
After the last episode I thought that Choi was a step up from Myunghwan because at least he was obsessed with curing illnesses even if it was for his own ego. Myunghwan on the other hand just wanted power and credit. But now, I take it back. Myunghwan used to be bad but now I think he is just weak and desperate. Allowing Choi to take over proves this. Because up until now, Myunghwan has always done the dirty dead himself – in an early episode, for example, he killed the doctor who knew too much about him. Then he poisoned Lord Ko. But now things are out of his control. He is not even in the room with Choi when he starts to operate on the princess. In the early days his treatments may have been cutting edge but not anymore. Now his medical knowledge is not good enough. And so Myunghwan’s days are definitely numbered. And he is allowing the despicable Choi to use him for his own gain.
Kwanghyun performs another successful operation, this time on the princess. But he’s fired from his position straight afterwards! Before Kwanghyun leaves the hospital he faces up to Myunghwan and warns him that he’ll be back. And then it will be Myunghwan’s turn to leave …
Kwanghyun rushes into the the princess quarters and drags Choi away from her. He knows that Choi made the princess sick on purpose so that he could use her as a guinea pig to practise a dangerous operation. Choi looks shocked that Kwanghyun has figured all this out – after Kayong found the musk on the floor. And he’s even more shocked that Kwanghyun announces that HE HAS done this operation before – Choi has only read about it in his book.
Choi is removed and guards are put in place around the princess’ quarters. Not even a disgruntled Myunghwan is allowed in to see her. (He acts innocent as though he has NO IDEA what is going on. Yeah, right!) The other doctors realise that Choi (and so surely Myunghwan too) made the princess sicker on purpose.
Meanwhile Kwanghyun explains the situation to the king. The princess is in a critical situation because her throat is swollen and she can’t breathe properly. They have to do something to remove the swelling or she is going to die. Kwanghyun timidly admits that there IS an operation he has carried out before which will reduce the swelling.
Why didn’t you mention this before? Lord Oh asks with surprise.
Of course the reason is that he knows the king is NOT GOING TO LIKE what he has to say! And he’s right. Kwanghyun has only done the operation before on HORSES.
So he will have to use needles for horses (which are much thicker and longer than needles for people). The king is HORRIFIED. Kwanghyun wants to do an operation on the Princess of Joseon using instruments for HORSES? :) In other words, Kwanghyun is comparing the princess to an animal ;) (but hasn’t he been in this predicament before?)
Kwanghyun begs the king to consider this idea as it is the only option that they have at the moment and time is running out. But the king is FUMING and he has Kwanghyun thrown out of his chamber. Lord Oh is left to support Kwanghyun pointing out that Kwanghyun did save his life too by amputating his leg (although it was hard for Lord Oh to accept at first).
While Kwanghyun kneels outside calling out to the king and begging him to change his mind, the queen mother turns up outraged at Kwanghun’s suggestion to operate on the princess as though she were an ANIMAL. She demands that the guards take him away and that he be punished. But the king has been told that the princess is getting worse. So just in time the king comes out and to the queen mother’s shock, he tells Kwanghyun to go ahead and operate.
Now we have a moving scene as Kwangyun calmly comforts the princess promising her that everything will be all right. He shows her the instruments that he is going to use. She looks worried but she trusts him and he calmly begins the operation. We see the inside of her throat as the needle prods around trying to find the swollen areas. He needs to pierce these areas and drain the blood.
The princess struggles to breathe as Kwanghyun prepares to operate
The operation is a success but afterwards the princess starts to choke. The king arrives and hears everyone calling her name and he rushes in to see her. But it doesn’t look good. Kwanghyun encourages her to spit out the blood. Finally she spits and she can breathe again. Phew! Everyone is relieved and the king apologises to Kwanghyun for not listening to him in the first place.
But Choi and Myunghwan are annoyed. Choi can’t believe that Kwanghyun is using a veterinary procedure to cure the princess. (This is something he couldn’t do himself and so he must be annoyed that Kwanghyun DOES have more medical skills than he does after all.)
Myunghwan seems more worried about saving himself and getting rid of Kwanghyun. (now that Kwanghyun has successfully healed the princess he will be up for promotion). He has to think quick and hurries off to see Lord Jung with a plan – although the operation was successful he suggests they complain that Kwanghyun still insulted the royal family by treating the princess like an animal. :(
Dr Saam visits Choi. (I don’t know why Choi is still not arrested. Didn’t Kwanghyun explain to the king that he had made her sickness worse on purpose? And surely Myunghwan should be arrested too my now?) Dr Saam tries to persuade Choi to change his life and be a better man. But Choi just tells him to get out!
Everyone else is celebrating the success of the operation. But not so fast. Suddenly, Jabong announces that Kwanghyun may be fired! Lord Jung and Lord Oh argue in a meeting with the king – Lord Jung is adamant that Kwanghyun insulted the royal family. And to back him up, yangban gather outside the palace gates to beg the king to sack the man who operated on the princess and so treated her like an animal!
But Kwanghyun doesn’t seem too concerned that he’s going to be fired. He faces up to Myunghwan who looks very smug. But Kwanghyun merely warns Myunghwan that he will be back. And when he comes back, it will be MYUNGHWAN who will be out. ;) These words haunt Myunghwan after Kwanghun goes. Then Kwanghyun asks Dusik for a favour – to allow him to have a look at the records from three years ago when Kwanghyun had to leave Joseon. He checks back to make sure that Lord Jung was aware of Myunghwan’s involvement in that episode.
The king is under pressure to fire Kwanghyun since the queen mother is also pushing this by refusing to eat until he is gone. So quickly a notice is put up to confirm that Kwanghyun has been fired.
The teacher is the most worried about this situation as he has left Team Myunghwan and now thinks that he made the wrong decision. He tries to butter up Myunghwan’s head doctor. But he has more important things to worry about – he remembers that Myunghwan made him get the musk. And so he realises that maybe Myunghwan DID know that Choi was going to harm the princess. But HE was the one who got the musk so could he be blamed for hurting the princess? He shares his concern with Lord Jung who tells him to watch Myunghwan carefully. Lord Jung knows what Myunghwan is capable of, but they have no choice but to stick together now.
No one seems to know where Kwanghyun is. The king tells Lord Oh that Kwanghyun wanted to be fired because he has something to do.
Later Sungha meets him in secret. Kwanghyun explains that Myunghwan murdered his biological father, the father who adopted him, and his mentor Doctor Ko. And for that, he intends to make him pay …
***
The queen mother is very annoying. What has she got against Kwanghyun? Is it merely because she thinks he comes from the peasant class? So he did a veterinary procedure on the princess? So what? He still saved her life, didn’t he?
I don’t know why she keeps siding with Myunghwan when we can see that his days are numbered. He is putting up a fight though calling on all his contacts to help him: Lord Jung, the queen mother, and lots of other officials. But gradually everyone is starting to have their suspicions about him – that he DID have something to do with the princess’ sickness. Even his own children suspect his actions since he hired the dodgy doctor, Choi.
Kwanghyun is in a bit of a predicament though, because when he takes down Myunghwan he will also hurt Jinyung since Myunghwan is still a father figure to her. (Even though she knows he has done a lot of bad stuff.) Kwanghyun respects Sungha too. So is Kwanghun going to try to help Sungha here? Because when he brings down Myunghwan, Myunghwan’s whole family with be tainted with his crimes and that includes Sungha. Perhaps if Sungha is involved in revealing Myunghwan’s crimes, then that will help to save Sungha’s reputation? Poor Sungha :(
So the day finally arrives where Myunghwan is questioned by the Office of Inspector General about the past. Lord Jung tries to get rid of Myunghwan with the help of Doctor Choi. But it isn’t as simple as that. A mysterious fire leaves Choi in a critical condition. Myunghwan and Lord Jung are questioned and a witness is brought forward. Enter Kwanghyun!
Sungha listens in horror to the accusations Kwanghyun makes against Sungha’s father – he’s a serial murderer! And now Kwanghyun wants revenge. Sungha isn’t totally surprised – he knows a lot about his father, but he wants to stay loyal of course. So why should he help Kwanghyun bring down his own father? Kwanghyun points out that Myunghwan will be executed for his crimes unless he confesses. And that would hurt Jinyung. Sungha wants to protect Jinyung so he agrees to do what Kwanghyun asks.
The princess tries to persuade the queen mother to change her mind about Kwanghyun so that he can be reinstated, but the queen mother admits that she didn’t like him from the start – she’s prejudiced against him and doesn’t like the idea of a low class peasant working his way up to become a doctor! (she’s such a snob!) Myunghwan arrives to take a look at the queen mother who is not well. And he seems pleased that she is still on his side and anti-Kwanghyun! (But not for much longer I imagine :) )
Kwanghyun FINALLY manages to give Jinyung the new shoes. (He bought them for her years ago and tried to give them to her just before he had to leave Joseon.) And he takes her hand and asks her if she is still willing to go away with him. They could go to a small village and have lots of children – they’d teach the kids acupuncture and set up their own clinic together. She’s surprised at his suggestion, but she still agrees to go.
Sungha asks Kwanghyun what he wants him to do. Kwanghyun produces his witness statement and wants Sungha to take it to the Office of Inspector General. Sungha is shocked to learn that Lord Jung was involved in Myunghwan’s crimes too. Kwanghyun will try to make Myunghwan confess. Sungha still wants to protect his father as much as he can and at least avoid execution so begs Kwanghyun not to tell anyone about Myunghwan’s involvement in the crown prince’s death or tampering with the princess’ health. (I don’t know how this can be avoided and I think this is asking a lot since he is a serial murderer!)
A level 5 official from the Sahonbu arrives and show his ID badge to Myunghwan. (The Sahonbu – the Office of the Inspector General - maintained law and order and investigated corrupt officials) Myunghwan is questioned and shown the letter that accuses him of murdering a doctor. But he is still cocky and later assures a worried Lord Jung who is also under investigation, that NOBODY ELSE knows about what happened. Then he remembers Kwanghyun’s threat – that he would reveal all Myunghwan’s past crimes!
And now we have the return of Guard Kang. The others may doubt Myunghwan and want to save their own skins but Kang is incredibly loyal to Myunghwan. (Perhaps it’s a comment on the military class – they were undervalued. Even though he is so loyal he doesn’t get the same back from Myunghwan who didn’t even help him until now when he needs him. And we can imagine that if anything happens Myunghwan will have no problem throwing Kang under the bus again :( I almost feel bad for Kang and his misplaced loyalty.)
Kwanghyun comes to see Myunghwan but first faces Kang again who clearly hates him and is irritated that he’s still alive. But Kwanghyun is so confident now. He gives Myunghwan another chance to confess. Myunghwan still doesn’t believe he has any proof. Meanwhile Lord Jung is getting very worried about the situation. He decides to call for Doctor Choi to do his dirty work for him – get rid of Myunghwan! :o But Myunghwan’s head nurse overhears his order and tells Myunghwan what’s going on …
Choi is packing up his stuff. He thinks back to Dr Saam pleading with him to change his life for the better. But he turns his nose up at the idea. But suddenly his doors are bolted from the outside and he is locked in. A fire starts but he can’t get out. Dr Saam is on his way to see Choi – to try to talk to him again – when he sees the fire and rushes to help. He knocks the door down and manages to get Choi to hospital. But Choi is in a bad way. He has terrible burns and Kwanghyun and the others rush to help him. (Perhaps this will make him change his ways, if he survives ) Kwanghyun guesses that the fire was Myunghwan’s idea and decides that he absolutely can’t forgive him now.
Myunghwan has realised that Doctor Cho is now siding with Lord Jung against him. So he goes to Lord Jung and blackmails him into helping him by showing him that he has records of all the naughty things they did together. So he had better support him or else!
In a place called Yangjumok the princess is recovering from her illness. But she’s fed up taking medicine so Jinyung promises to take her into town if she drinks it. In town they see a??? (sa-dang-pe) group of travelling actors. Jinyung spent her youth around here and later she nostalgically stops by the local government office. She remembers how she escaped from there as a child – when she was a slave. But suddenly she’s shocked when Guard Kang shows up. She listens in as he demands that the clerk find some information in the record books about HER. He’s come on Myunghwan’s behalf and Jinyung is worried.
Myunghwan and Lord Jung face each other glaring before they go in to the Office of Inspector General! They don’t trust each other but they are in the same boat now! But Myunghwan’s jaw drops when the official announces that they have a WITNESS to the crime – the son of the murdered man. Enter Kwanghyun. Myunghwan can’t believe it. He thought they had killed Baek’s son.
Kwanghyun sits calmly across from Myunghwan in the interrogation room. But even as he faces the man whose father (s) he killed, Myunghwan is only bothered about himself. He doesn’t even apologise for what he did – still pretends he did nothing wrong. How could I possibly kill anyone with acupuncture needles Myunghwan blurts out. I never mentioned murdering someone with acupuncture needles Kwanghyun replies. Oops! Myunghwan desperately turns to plan B -Jinyung – she will be outed as a peasant and not a yangban if Kwanghyun reveals his crimes. But Kwanghyun anticipated this reaction and merely informs Myunghwan that Jinyung is in a safe place where he can’t get to her. He can’t hurt her. Myunghwan looks really worried now. He doesn’t have a plan C.
***
Myunghwan really is putting up a fight until the end. In the early years it was Lord Jung who was the confident one of the pair but now Myunghwan has taken over. But he is in such denial after years of lying, that he doesn’t seem to be able to grasp that the only thing left to do is confess!
I have lost some respect for Sungha. Even now when he knows all the terrible things that his father has done, he still wants to protect him. Filial piety was very important in Confucianism but i think there comes a point when enough is enough. It’s unfair of him to ask Kwanghyun to help him protect Myunghwan after he killed so many of the people Kwanghyun loved. The only reason Kwanghyun wants to save Myunghwan from execution is for Jinyung’s sake, but the sad part is that Myunghwan seems to feel nothing for Jinyung as he is perfectly happy to use her to get what he wants. He doesn’t seem to care about her at all.
I’m also surprised that they haven’t mentioned anything about family honour. Because surely, when Myunghwan is outed as a murderer, Sungha will not be able to stay in his position either. But his only thoughts seem to be with Jinyung who will be OK if Kwanghyun runs away with her. ;) Sungha will be the one left with nothing. :(
Very sad this one. It’s time for Jinyung to find out who she really is. Did Kwanghyun honestly think they could keep this a secret from her? Meanwhile, Myunghwan still refuses to give up and confess his guilt. (surprise, surprise) At first it seems there is no way he can get away with his crime. But wait, with perfect timing the queen mother gets very sick, and quickly he sees his chance to buy some time…
Kwanghyun gives Myunghwan a last chance to confess. (but of course he has no intention of doing this!) Meanwhile, Sungha wants Jinyung to leave asap with his guards and assures her Kwanghyun will soon meet her. But Sungha doesn’t explain WHY she has to leave so suddenly. Of course Jinyung thinks the whole thing is fishy and she suspects that there’s something they are not telling her – especially after she overhears Guard Kang trying to find out about her past as a slave. She packs her bags to leave but then she decides to go and investigate …
Myunghwan still tries to plead innocent to Sungha but Sungha explains to his father that he knows all about the crimes he’s committed. But he will stand by him. He will quit his job and go into exile with his father. But he pleads with him again – to confess and take responsibility for what he has done. At least then Kwanghyun will not reveal ALL his crimes and will spare his life.
Myunghwan is visibly moved by his son’s words. (And he must be wondering how he managed to get such a noble son! I was moved by this scene and enjoyed the acting by both men) Time is running out as the??? ??? uigumbu (State Tribunal) is getting ready to start Myunghwan and Lord Jung’s tribunal. Is there no other way, Myunghwan asks at last because FINALLY he’s thinking about someone else: his son. He knows that Sungha will be ruined too when the truth comes out.
The queen mother is sick but is still irritated enough to stagger over to see the king and try to persuade him to punish Kwanghyun for daring to say anything bad about the yangban Myunghwan and Lord Jung! But the king is very firm this time and explains that this is government business so basically she should butt out. Her maids are called to escort her out. (WOW that was the strongest reaction we’ve see from the king dealing with his interfering mother!) Of course she is OUTRAGED and the stress causes her to collapse outside. Her illness must be getting worse.
When the guards turn up to escort Jinyung to safety they discover that she’s not there! Over at the hospital Choi recovers consciousness but he’s not in a good mood – he feels worthless but at least he’s ready to face up to what he’s done – he’s not going to run away.
Lord Jung visits Kwanghyun and tries to bribe him into leaving him alone with a promotion to Myunghwan’s job! But Kwanghyun is not amused and swiftly orders him to leave! Kwanghyun has no intention of letting him get away with anything either – since he played a part in Kwanghyun’s adoptive father’s death too. (That didn’t go well! Lord Jung must have been really desperate to lower himself to visit such a poor house ;) He looks so out of place in Kwanghun’s modest room. And he’s so arrogant to think that he can have his own way simply by bribing others)
Jinyung is determined to find out what’s going on so first she goes to see Dusik who shows her the record book that Kwanghyun was looking for. She sees the page detailing the death of Kwanghyun’s father. But then she see Inju’s name too. Inju was put in charge of seeing to the body after death. Jinyung wonders why Inju was connected to the event and how she knew those involved.
The queen mother is unconscious and they have to call for Myunghwan who looks very pleased that the queen mother is sick! He obviously sees an opportunity for himself here. Everyone is shocked that the queen mother is so ill – she has an abscess on her neck which, we are told, is one of the most dangerous places to have one.
The head of the hospital decides that Kwanghyun must operate on the queen mother but the queen mother is adamant that she doesn’t want an operation. The king is worried and asks Myunghwan if he believes that he can cure her. He says he can. Do you swear on your life? the king asks and Myunghwan says yes. (really?)
Of course the tribunal is put on hold while Myunghwan treats the queen mother. (lucky for him!) But even though the queen mother’s condition is getting worse Myunghwan continues to assure everyone that he can cure her. And while he orders medicines Myunghwan also has time to plot how to get rid of the witness to his crimes – Kwanghyun!
Jinyung turns up to see Inju and she wants answers. She threatens to go and ask her father – Myunghwan – if Inju won’t tell her! That’s a bad idea. So finally Inju has no choice but to tell her the truth and she is devastated – and can’t believe that Kwanghyun has known this for 3 years since Dr Ko died! Of course Jinyung must feel incredibly guilty. Kwanghyun has suffered so much because of his low position – his life would have been easier if he had simply revealed the truth.
Kwanghyun hears that Jinyung has gone to see Inju. He rushes to find her but it’s too late – he can see by the look on her face that something is wrong. She feels horrible and guilty that she is the one who took away everything from him. Kwanghyun just stares at her not knowing what to say. He was so sure he could keep all this a secret. Oh dear. :(
***
I totally empathise with Jinyung here. She gets more and more frustrated as she realises that people are keeping something from her. I would hate that too. If I were her I would be very upset indeed that nobody was telling me the truth. Yes, Kwanghyun was only trying to protect her and realised she would feel terrible if she knew the truth but keeping this from her was a bad idea I think. Great acting in the final scenes.
And what is the deal now with Myunghwan? Surely he doesn’t really believe he can cure the queen mother? He’s just buying time until he can find a way to get rid of Kwanghyun and destroy the proof of his guilt. So now he’s putting another person’s life in danger – the queen mother! She needs to be operated on asap but he’s just using her – while he is treating her they can’t continue with the tribunal. He obviously doesn’t care if she dies. This seems particularly vicious since she’s the one who has supported him all the way along and now he is betraying her trust. He has put his life on the line to save her but if the tribunal goes ahead he will be punished anyway.
If/when the queen mother dies he will have to be executed too, but maybe he sees this as a more noble option – it will look as though he did his best to save her. And if meanwhile, he can get rid of the evidence against him, he can stop the tribunal and nobody will have to know he is really a murderer!
Now that the truth is revealed to Jinyung about her real identity, Kwanghun must try to convince her that they should keep this a secret. But she can’t live a lie and hates to see Kwanghyun suffering so when the queen mother refuses to be operated on by the low class horse doctor, Jinyung can’t stand by and do nothing ..
Jinyung is still in shock after hearing the terrible news that she and Kwanghun were switched at birth, so she knows that she is really a slave and not a yangban aristocrat after all. Sungha looks on in the distance as Kwanghyun tries to comfort her. But she is racked with guilt – she has been living the life that Kwanghun should have had. Everything becomes clear to her now – this is the reason Myunghwan tried to kill Kwanghyun when he left Joseon. (Myunghwan didn’t want the truth revealed and wanted to get his hands on Jinyung’s fortune) She’s moved that Kwanghun didn’t reveal the truth because he wanted to protect her. But she cries at the thought of this.
Kwanghyun repeats that rank and title are not important to him. But she says they ARE important to her – she doesn’t want something that isn’t hers and she runs off in tears. Kwanghyun tries to go after her but Sungha steps in and takes over. (Kwanghun is probably the last person she wants to talk to about this right now). Sungha tries to comfort her too. She accepts that they were just trying to protect her. But later she thinks back to all the suffering Kwanghun went through because of his low class. And it makes her sad. :(
Lord Jung is worried about the queen mother. He doesn’t want to lose an ally, but since Myunghwan is not telling him anything he feels very uneasy. He’s desperately making medicines but they are useless as the queen mother can’t drink the medicines as she’s in too much pain. So finally he orders poppies and resorts to an opium based painkiller. Even his head nurse is shocked at this. But Myunghwan is determined to buy himself some time and his men still haven’t found the evidence he needs to destroy.
Choi gets better at hospital and has guessed that Myunghwan is putting the queen mother’s life in danger. He warns Kwanghyun but (not surprisingly) Kwanghun doesn’t want to listen to anything he has to say!
Finally Kwanghun and Jinyung sit down together to talk. Kwanghun wants to convince her that they should keep their true identities a secret. And he tries to make her feel less guilty – after all, if he had led a yangban life, he wouldn’t have all the important people in his life including Kibae and Jabong and of course Jinyung. If his true background is revealed everything will change. (It DOES make sense to pretend that nothing has changed. Jinyung seems to understand this.)
The king is pleased that the queen mother seems to be feeling better (thanks to opium!) but the head nurse looks worried and her hands shake as she carries the tray of ‘medicine’ to the royal chamber.
Meanwhile, the head of the hospital wants to see Myunghwan’s medical notes or prescriptions for the queen mother. But Myunghwan is not allowing anyone to see them. (of course ;) ) This causes alarm bells to ring.
Dr Saam has guessed the situation between Kwanghun and Jinyung – he knows Inju was looking for a baby boy in the past. And although he understands that Kwanghyun wants to keep their identities a secret, he explains that this is FATE not only for him but for her too. (And he shouldn’t tamper with it.)
Jinyung asks Kibae where ‘Kwanghyun’s father’s’ grave is and she goes to pay her respects. She remembers back to the night in the cave when he died. And how he had guessed that she was his daughter.
The princess sends Guard Ma to find Kwanghun – she wants his opinion on her mother’s health. But when Guard Ma arrives at Kwanghun’s house, he finds masked men ransacking the house. They fight and he chases them away with his superior fighting skills. :) (We haven’t seen much fighting from Guard Ma but he must be excellent if he’s the princess’ personal guard!) Kwanghyun arrives and realises that the men were sent by Myunghwan and were searching for the medical notebook of the king’s brother, Prince Sohyeon. (whose murder Myunghwan was involved with years ago)
Kwanghun is called back to the hospital where bloody towels from the queen mother’s chamber are being inspected in the doctors meeting. (Kayong asked the teacher to snoop around and he found them) Kwanghun finally realises that Choi was right. Myunghwan is merely stalling for time and is not helping the queen mother at all. The bloody towels are then presented to the king. :o Myunghwan insists that the blood is no problem and is simply caused by the meds. But the head of the hospital wants to see the queen mother for himself. Myunghwan’s nurse tries to stop him entering but he has come on the king’s orders. They are all shocked at how sick the queen mother is. It could be too late.
The king puts Kwanghyun in charge of treatment. And it’s decided that the queen mother must be operated on. But of course she is against this. She has no intention of letting a horse doctor touch her! Kwanghyun begs her to have the operation. But she is furious and throws her medicine in his face and screams that he be removed from her room.
Jinyung sends a message to Dusik explaining the truth about Kwanghun – she wants the situation cleared up. He has to investigate. Then Jinyung hears that the queen mother is refusing to be operated on so she hurries to see her. She wants to tell her the truth – Kwanghyun is not low class after all. But when Kwanghyun hears what Jinyung is doing, he rushes to stop her. But it’s too late. She is already inside the queen mother’s chamber …
It was so powerful (and made me angry!) She is SUCH a SNOB. But I think the queen mother simply represents aristocratic thinking at the time – if you were born a peasant you could never move up the social ladder no matter what. It’s great that we had this scene – it will make the queen mother’s reaction to the truth all the more dramatic. Her expression is priceless and I can really feel how much she despises him. Although I can appreciate that social structure was very rigid at the time, I still can’t respect her behaviour – surely the royal family should be above this kind of reaction. Throwing her medicine at him was below the belt! (Makes me wonder what her background is – does she have a chip on her shoulder??) But anyway, I look forward to her next meeting with Kwanghyun, the yangban! :)
News of Kwanghyun’s yangban status spreads around court. And so does the news that Myunghwan treated the queen mother with opium! Kwanghyun takes over the treatment for the queen mother and carries out a dangerous operation. Meanwhile, Myunghwan goes on the run. But with Jinyung’s help it looks as though he may escape. But guards are everywhere and not even Guard Kang can fight them all …
Kwanghyun stands worriedly outside the queen mother’s chamber as Jinyung is inside revealing the truth about his identity. The news spreads quickly around court and everyone is shocked. The princess stares at Kwanghyun as though she can’t believe it. Myunghwan’s reaction when he hears that Jinyung knows the truth is more of panic not surprise. If EVERYONE knows the truth, his plans will be ruined.
After she leaves the queen mother, she faces Kwanghun to explain WHY she did this. She’s prepared to become a slave again if that’s her fate. And she doesn’t want to spend her life on the run – even it it’s with Kwanghyun. Because she already knows what that’s like since she ran away as a child slave.
After sitting deep in thought, Myunghwan rushes over to the queen mother for damage control. But she is colder towards him now and asks directly: Did he know about Kwanghun’s true identity? Myunghwan stutters unable to answer. (He must be stunned by the direct question and didn’t anticipate this situation. So he can’t answer even though he has managed to tell lies and commit murder so many times before!) The stress of the news makes the queen mother take a turn for the worse and Myunghwan rushes forward to grab her arm and take her pulse. But this time she pulls her hand away and orders he be removed from her presence. Myunghwan pleads with her but she is adamant and he is removed.
Kwanghyun immediately rushes to the queen mother’s side. But her condition is very serious now. Meanwhile, Myunghwan’s head nurse desperately tries to hide the evidence of opium, but the teacher has been watching her and catches her red-handed. News of the opium spreads to the court too and Lord Jung just sits in dismay in his office.
The nurse is led away by guards as Myunghwan hides watching the scene in dismay. Of course he has no intention of even trying to help her. He is only concerned about himself. Guards are sent to arrest him but Guard Kang is on hand to help him escape.
It seems that it’s too late to operate on the queen mother- the root of the tumour is too deep and soon she won’t be able to breathe. Kwanghyun has an idea about a new operation but he’s not sure if it will work. but Choi knows his days are numbered (and maybe he’s feeling a bit guilty about hiding the rare medical book on treating sores and tumours) so he gives the book to Dr Saam although he believes it’s probably too late to help the queen mother.
Kwanghyun hears from Dr Saam that there is a procedure described in the medical book just like the one he had though of! This gives him confidence and he goes to the king (with three diagrams – one for the king, one for Lord Oh, and one for himself! :) ) to explain the procedure: make three long incisions on the queen mother’s neck and that way it should be possible to remove the entire tumour. But it’s very dangerous – even if she survives there may be permanent damage to her vocal chords – AND he has to admit that he has never performed this operation before! But they don’t have any other ideas and if he doesn’t try, the queen mother will die.
So we have another bloody operation as Kwanghyun cuts away the huge tumour from the queen mother’s neck. But it’s difficult and the head of the hospital tells him to stop (I don’t understand why because she’s going to die anyway) But he manages to remove the offending cells and the operation is a success. Or is it? The queen mother has no pulse and she isn’t breathing. She’s gone, the others say in dismay.
But Kwanghyun NEVER gives up. He asks the maid for her hair pin and uses it like a hammer to punch the queen mother’s chest hard again and again. The others look on in horror and scream at him to stop. (Again, I don’t know why – he can’t do any MORE damage, can he?) The king is outside and hears the commotion. But just as he enters the room, the queen mother takes a breath. (phew! That was close. ;) )
Of course now that news of Kwanghyun’s yangban status has spread around court, Lord Jung wastes no time in trying to curry favour with him. And he tries to put all the blame on Myunghwan. But Kwanghun isn’t interested. And merely points out that Lord Jung is guilty too and will be punished when the truth comes out!
The king is relieved that his mother has survived the operation
Myunghwan is looking pretty pathetic as he sits in his hideout with Guard Kang. He’s not feeling optimistic about his future but Guard Kang tries to encourage him not to give up. Myunghwan has sent a servant to get his notes from his house – the book that includes all his dirty dealings with Lord Jung. His home has been ransacked – by Lord Jung’s men looking for the book – but the book is still safe in its hiding place in the secret wall panel. But as the servant is retrieving the book a figure enters the room – it’s Yongdal!
Now we’re back at Myunghwan’s hideout again. Guard Kang is at the port assessing the situation, but guards are everywhere making it impossible to escape. In the hideout, the door opens and a figure enters. Who are you? Myunghwan asks. And he’s shocked to see that when the stranger takes off his hat – it’s Jinyung (dressed as Yongdal – I prefer this look to her yangban dress!) She has brought his book knowing that he wants to use it as blackmail against Lord Jung – his only hope.
Myunghwan tries to make excuses for what he did – if only the crown prince hadn’t died, if only his friend Dojun hadn’t got in the way, if only, if only….. then none of this would have happened. But Jinyung is not sympathetic. She insists that HE made those choices. He could have led a different life. She can’t understand or forgive him for what he’s done. Myunghwan thinks the game is up. BUT Jinyung hasn’t come to hand him in to the police. She can’t bring herself to do that since he treated her like his own child. She can’t let him die. In fact she’s come to help him and has prepared a boat for him to escape on. She says goodbye and rushes out in tears leaving Myunghwan in tears too. :(
Masked men (sent by Lord Jung) surround the hideout. (Lord Jung needs Myunghwan out of the way to protect himself) But when they storm the building, no one is there. Guard Kang and Myunghwan are on their way to the boat. But just as they are about to get on the boat, Myunghwan tells Guard Kang to go on alone, he will catch him up later because he has something to do first! While Guard Kang tries to persuade him to go with him, lots of masked men appear out of hiding and Guard Kang has to fight them off. He shouts at Myunghwan to get away. He puts up a brave fight but of course Guard Kang can’t fight off so many men. He gets slashed with swords again and again but manages to fight back until the final blow – a stab in the shoulder – he falls to the ground.
Myunghwan actually looks upset to see his guard die in front of him, but he has to hurry away and hide. Sungha arrives on his horse to find Guard Kang’s body. He’s worried about his father and rushes off to look for him.
Myunghwan is hurrying through the mountain. But then he stops and remembers Dr Ko’s words – Dr Ko had known Myunghwan since he was a young student before the whole crown prince situation began, and he believed that Myunghwan could change and be a better man.
Then back at the court everyone is shocked to see Myunghwan stagger back alone. Looks like he’s giving up at last.
***
Loyalty
So what a pathetically weak and selfish figure Myunghwan seems now at the end. Even as the people who have supported him all along get arrested, he can only think about his own survival. He hasn’t just put his patients life in jeopardy, but also the people he works with – his medical staff will have to be punished too for what he’s done. But I have little sympathy for his head nurse though because she should have blown the whistle on him as soon as she realised what he was doing with the opium. Ba humbug :?
I think the fact that others are loyal to him but he is loyal to no one makes him seem even worse. Jinyung is still willing to help him even now, although she knows that he has been using her all this time. I suppose this is to show how filial piety was so important in Confucianism. So Myunghwan’s children can’t turn away from him even after everything he’s done.
The picture of Myunghwan cowering behind the wall watching as his nurse is escorted away for questioning (below) reminds me of one of the earlier scenes (in episode 1 above) when Myunghwan first realises that there is some dodgy business going on with the crown prince. That’s before he has done anything wrong but it’s the turning point in his life. There is no going back for him after this point. And the two images seem to show the beginning and the end of his wicked life. :(
I think this was the right way for Guard Kang to die – still fighting to protect his master. But it was a sad scene afterwards. Since we don’t know anything about his family, he seems a lonely figure lying there in the darkness with nobody to take care of him. He has been protecting Myunghwan all the time, but there is nobody to protect him. :(
At least he was loyal to Myunghwan – even when things were not going their way. That was his saving grace. There was never any chance that he would leave him and join another team for his own gains. Although he did do lots of bad stuff (in Myunghwan’s name), at least he was loyal. And he NEVER gave up – just kept on fighting till the end. He did his job – protected his master. But what a miserable life.
Finally looks like Myunghwan is finished – or is he? Even with the death penalty he seems to lack any regret and manages to escape one last time. But the big problem now is what to do with Jinyung. the miserable officials at court want to see her return to being a slave – that’s the law of the land after all. Very harsh though. The princess is still her ally but the king must decide what to do. But poor old Jinyung accepts the situation with a stiff upper lip. :(
Myunghwan staggers back into the palace. First he stands alone and remembers his father’s words to him when he first entered the hospital – he told him to forget about his past as a horse doctor as he was destined for better things. (I wonder if his father really thought he would take his words so literally though! He didn’t even go home when his father was dying.) It’s a sad episode because it lingers on the past and what could have been. Myunghwan had choices but he took all the wrong ones.
Sungha rushes over to his father and begs him to leave. It’s dangerous here. What’s he thinking? But Myunghwan seems to be in a daze. Dusik and his guards arrive to arrest him but he asks for a favour – to be allowed to clean up so he can look his best – he is still the head of the hospital, sort of. So Dusik allows it.
Myunghwan tells Kwanghyun that he has no regrets about what he did and if he had his life over again he wouldn’t change! (Because basically he’s greedy and needs wealth and stuff). But Kwanghyun believes he will regret what he’s done.
Myunghwan is taken away by the guards. And for the first time we see Lord Jung RUNNING. WOW he really must be desperate. ;) He stops the guards and tries to persuade Myunghwan that everything will be all right. All he has to do is trust him. He will speak to the queen mother and court bla bla bla …. but Myunghwan KNOWS the game is up.
Let’s just go (to prison) together, he says (since he’s handed over his proof of both their guilt!)
Lord Jung looks shocked and angry. But he’s not giving up YET.
Do you know who I am? he shouts after him! :) (So he thinks even written proof is not enough to bring the mighty Dae-gam down.)
BUT then Dusik arrives on the scene and Lord Jung, the minister of defence, and then Doctor Choi are arrested. Myunghwan and the two ministers are tortured. But Myunghwan refuses to change his story: he insists that Lord Jung was aware that he murdered the doctor! But Lord Jung STILL tries to deny it even though the inquisitors have the proof! (Duh! He really is unbelievably arrogant.)
The guilty ministers and all medical staff connected with the crimes are exiled, but Myunghwan gets the death penalty. Jinyung wants to see him, but he refuses to let her see him in prison. Inju pays him a last visit – just as she did to Dojun before he was put to death. She is on official work from the hospital and checks Myunghwan’s pulse and will prepare some medicine for him.
Why bother preparing medicine for a dead man, Myunghwan wants to know?
aigoo. But Inju seems so sad even after everything that’s happened. :( She gives him Dojun’s box of acupuncture needles from Kwanghyun (I don’t know why Kwanghyun wants to give this away?) After she leaves him, Inju remembers back to the time she visited Dojun for the last time too. The three of them were so close but then everything fell apart :(
Jinyung watches in tears as Myunghwan and the others do the walk of shame through town.
But later, Myunghwan asks the guard if he can stop off at his ‘childhood home’ to see it one last time before he dies. How can the guard refuse the request of a dying man? Next thing we know, word spreads that Myunghwan has escaped! Guards chase him but can’t find him.
He’s made his way to Kang Dojun’s grave. He repeats that he has no regrets – because he had no choice but to kill the crown prince etc. But he reveals that he has always felt guilty about what he did to his friend Dojun. So then he takes out Dojun’s acupuncture needles and commits suicide. When they hear where he escaped, Inju and the others guess where he’s gone and rush to the grave. But they are too late as he is already lying dead. (They all seem so shocked. But he WAS going to be killed anyway though!)
Back at court we see what’s happened to Myunghwan’s staff who didn’t get exiled: they’ve been fired or demoted and are struggling to get by!
Jabong and Kibae and the chef go to inspect Kwanghyun’s property. But will he be able to live here knowing that Jinyung used to live here. And now she’s a slave so they can’t even get married …
So the problem now is what to do with Jinyung. Kwanghyun begs the king to allow her to free her from slavery. But the king says that rules are rules. The princess asks the queen mother for help too but we can already guess that this is a waste of time. The king is under pressure from the officials at court, so he has no choice but to send Jinyung back to being a nobi slave – (so harsh).
Jinyung packs up her stuff at the hospital – she knows she can’t work here anymore. Most of the nurses are nice to her and still call her politely by her old title, agashi. (see how people addressed each other Joseon court here) But one of the nurses asks why she should call Jinyung agashi? Because she’s a slave not a noble lady. Just then the princess walks in and overhears this and the nurse is taken away to be punished for being rude to her friend. :)
But Jinyung seems ready to say goodbye to the princess as though she knows they can’t be friends anymore. But the princess says that status doesn’t matter – (Really? In Joseon??) She says it’s what’s inside that matters and that she learnt this from Jinyung. (If only that were true!)
Sungha resigns from his job. (I don’t think he had much choice there) Then while Jinyung is at the hospital, the king’s orders arrive on a scroll to announce that she is to be a nobi again and return to Yangju (where she escaped from as a child slave!) Dressed in her plain nobi clothes she stoically accepts her fate. But then Sungha arrives to step in.
Kwanghyun has had an idea. The king needs a reason to get Jinyung released from slavery, so what if the king freed her father for his service to the country? Then she would be free too. Kwanghyun hurries to see the king …
***
Poor old Jinyung. It’s pretty harsh to send her back into slavery. But she takes it well, though. We can really see how strict the rules of class structure were in Joseon. Even Jinyung’s strong connections with the royal family mean nothing now that there is proof of her low class!
I like the idea of Myunghwan committing suicide with Dojun’s needles by his grave. It’s poetic justice. He caused Dojun to be put to death and now he dies by Dojun’s own needles.
And I think this way also emphasises how Myunghwan has always been in charge of his own fate. He could have made different choices (although he refuses to accept this) but chose to go to the dark side for titles and material gains. Even now when it seems that he will die at the hands of prison guards, he manages to control the situation and die the way he chooses to. Very dramatically.
And by symbolically going to Dojun’s grave to die, Myunghwan can be seen as a more three-dimensional character. He wasn’t just a baddie with no remorse killing people to get what he wanted, he actually carried the guilt of what he did to his friend to his own death.
However, although I like the idea of his death by Dojun’s needles, I felt that Kwanghyun giving Myunghwan the box of needles was very contrived. When he gave it to him I wondered why Kwanghyun would give him his father’s box of needles? I didn’t think this made any sense. But in the death scene I realised why he gave it to him – it was for dramatic purposes!
And in a way Myunghwan is lucky because even though he was so bad, there are still people crying over him at his death – only three people, but three is better than nothing. Remember Guard King’s desperately lonely death in the last episode?
After the dramatic death of Myunghwan in the last episode, all that’s left to do now is fix Jinyung’s status so that she can marry Kwanghyun and then live happily ever after. :) OR is it? Because now that Kwanghyun’s yangban identity has been revealed, the government officials want him to join them and marry a yangban – and even though he wants to stay a humble doctor, this might not be so easy …
While Jinyung stoically prepares to return to a life of slavery, Kwanghyun is with the king pleading for her freedom. He shows the king proof, including the notebook from Doctor Yi who was murdered by Myunghwan, that shows Jinyung’s father was framed. So if Jinyung’s father received a reward then they could both be free. But there’s a problem because the situation is very delicate. The king has always had his suspicions that his own grandfather was involved in the death of the then crown prince. And he doesn’t want that made public. However, finally the king orders the officials at the??? chunchugwan, Office of Annals Compilation to search the records.
King Taejo historical note: Sagwon were official historiographers who worked in the chungchugwan and wrote detailed records on everything that went on. We can see there are always two sagwon busy writing away during the meetings between the king and the government officials (below). The sagwon were meant to be objective in what they wrote so even the king was not allowed to read the annals because it was feared that if he read something he didn’t like about himself he could punish the writers!
Sure enough, an official from the chunchugwan arrives and reads out some information from the records – there’s a law written by King Sejo that rewards anyway who suffered for their country – this included promoting officials to higher positions and freeing slaves. The king has a meeting with his government but no one can complain because the rule is there for all to see in the records. So Jinyung will be freed from slavery. Everyone is pleased and there’s a party at the restaurant. A proper funeral is held for Jinyung’s father who is buried next to Kwanghyun’s father, Kang Dojun. Jinyung and Kwanghyun think back to their childhoods and their father.
Back at the hospital new rookie nurses are joining but everyone is shocked to see Myunghwan’s old head nurse has joined the nursing staff again as a new recruit at the lowest rank – the other nurses giggle when they see her. Meanwhile, Sungha is getting ready to leave court and plans to leave the capital for a while to study more. He gives Kwanghyun the documents for the house and all Dojun’s family assets – they were always Kwanghyun’s anyway, he says. :(
Kwanghyun wants to keep working as a doctor and to marry Jinyung but that is looking difficult to do now! And with his yangban status everyone at court including the officials and royal family think he should have a higher rank (than doctor) and marry an appropriately high status bride – such as the newly appointed high official’s daughter ….
Kwanghyun is wined and dined at the gisaeng house by the officials who hope to win him over to their side, since their families have a ‘strong connection’. The king is in agreement that Kwanghyun should be promoted to a civil scholar-official. But Kwanghyun doesn’t want to go into the civil service and become a high ranking scholar. He just wants to be a doctor. (But his attitude is not winning him any friends as the officials are irritated by his attitude.)
Even the queen mother is getting in on the action. She wants to find him a quality wife – to make up for the way she treated him before. (The only problem is she’s NOT helping. AGAIN!) She even calls Jinyung to her and tries to make her feel guilty -by emphasising that if she marries Kwanghyun, their children can’t be yangban and he will lose everything.
But Kwanghyun continues to shock the officials when he begins to change the Kang family home into a clinic. Then he goes to the palace and asks the king NOT to promote him to the civil- official status, even though he understands this means he will lose everything when he marries Jinyung.
The high official is fuming when he hears what’s going on. But Kwanghyun knows he only wants to use him for political gains. Everyone seems to want a piece of Kwanghyun and his fortune and status. But the focus suddenly changes from Kwanghyun when the King collapses. And as we know by now, there is only one man who can save him ;)
***
How things have changed for Kwanghyun now! It only seems like yesterday that the queen mother didn’t want the dirty horse doctor touching her with his filthy hands and now every noble in the land seems to be throwing themselves (and their daughters) at him!
Blimey, things would have been a lot simpler if Jinyung had simply kept quiet about their whole situation: she would have been the heir to the family fortune and Kwanghyun would have been left alone as a doctor. Now Kwanghyun’s title is causing nothing but trouble for them!
Jinyung promises to stay with Kwanghyun but in reality I think there’s a lot of pressure on her now. If she marries Kwanghyun won’t she always feel guilty that he has had to give up so much for her?
We come to the final test before we can wrap things up in Horse Doctor! The king is going to die if someone doesn’t think of something quick. It’s not hard to guess that Kwanghyun will have to perform another difficult operation. But it will probably be the last bloody operation we get to see in this drama, so let’s enjoy it!
The medical team discovers that the king has an intestinal ulcer which could be fatal. Kwanghyun explains to the queen mother that the symptoms appear suddenly and if the intestine bursts it can kill the patient within days :o When the queen mother hears what’s wrong with him she is devastated because other members of the family have died of the same thing. But Kwanghyun thinks he can treat the king.
Royal guards and military soldiers are sent out around court and to the hospital (I suppose this is because if anything goes wrong, someone will have to pay and they don’t want people trying to escape their responsibility)
Kwanghyun continues to treat the king with acupuncture and moxibustion. But then he notices that the king’s condition is worse than he thought – the naval area is infected which means that the infection has spread through the king’s body quickly. The doctors believe there is nothing they can do to save him now. The princess arrives to find royal staff weeping outside the king’s chamber …
The queen mother is told that NOTHING can be done now and she collapses in shock.
But Kwanghyun thinks he can do an abdominal operation on the intestine. Well, we’ve seen Kwanghyun in similar situations many times before and we get the same reactions: Kwanghyun wants to do the operation. Word spreads about his intention and people think he’s crazy ….
If the king doesn’t survive, then the doctors and nurses involved will have to pay. So of course most of the medical staff pack up and leave the hospital. Only Kwanghyun’s faithful team remain to support him.
He begins the operation cutting open the abdomen area – blood spurts everywhere. :o He has to get into the intestine and find the holes. But it’s taking too long. The intestine is long and the tools he’s using make it hard to feel anything. So Dr Saam tells him to use his hands. So Kwanghyun thrown his hands into the king’s abdomen! He feels his way through the intestine which is like a long soggy sausage!
Still it’s taking time. It looks like the operation will not be a success until Daemang mentions the idea of pouring water through the body. Dr Saam overhears this and thinks it’s a great idea- the water will leak out of the intestine and they will be able to find the holes. (I like that Deamang finally has a good idea relating to medicine! :) )
They pour water down the king’s throat through a pipe and Kwanghyun continues to search through the intestine.
But the high official is not happy about the situation and when he hears that Kwanghyun is struggling he wastes no time in going to see the queen. Since the queen mother is incapacitated, he asks the queen to let him stop the operation – Kwanghyun is killing the king and should be arrested!
So royal guards hurry over to the operating room. They push past the head of the hospital and storm into the room. Kwanghyun is in the middle of the operation but he is dragged away from the king. Jinyung steps in to take over and throws her hands into the king’s abdomen instead! Suddenly she finds the offending part of intestine and Kwanghyun is released. (Phew! That was good timing.) Kwanghyun completes the operation and the king is stitched up and all is well! (The prime minister’s gob-smacked reaction when he sees the state of the king on the operating table is funny – he’s not a doctor after all ;) )
There are mixed reactions to the successful operation.
:D First there’s happiness – of course everyone is pleased that the king has survived. But then there’s regret - Myunghwan’s old cronies regret running away from the hospital – they should have stayed to share the glory. Now others will be promoted instead of them! :( There’s also sheepishness - The high official looks sheepish, since he was the one that tried to drag Kwanghyun away from the king and now he has saved his life! He looks very awkward when the queen mother thanks Kwanghyun in tears. :? We also see some relief and pride - Daemang’s mum is expecting a high promotion for her baby! And she holds a celebration at the restaurant! But there’s also some disappointment - Kibae realises that even though Kwanghyun saved the king’s life, he can’t become the royal physician as he hasn’t passed the government’s medical exam.
The king recovers well. And asks Kwanghyun what to do about his name – surely he should be called Dr Kang now. But Kwanghun wants to keep his name as it is – since his surname was given to him by his adoptive father and his first name was given to him by his biological father. :)
A reward ceremony is announced for all those that took part in saving the king’s life. The doctors get promoted but it seems that Kwanghyun will not be able to become the Royal Physician.
But when his name is announced, Kwanghyun IS given the title of royal physician – but much to his surprise.
***
So finally Kwanghyun is named the Royal Physician! :) It’s fun seeing all the different reactions in the crowd when the doctors and nurses are getting their rewards! It’s clear that not everyone is pleased. And how the tables have turned – Kwanghyun and his loyal followers were once at the bottom of the pile but now they are at the top :D
I didn’t really understand the high official’s thinking though. I mean, the king was going to die anyway if he didn’t have the operation. So what good would storming in and stopping the operation do? Crazy but dramatic, I suppose. And when Jinyung stepped in and started taking over rummaging around through the king’s intestine…. well I had to smile!
Anyway, the next episode is the finale. So can we expect a wedding??
Well here we are. It’s the final episode. But just because Kwanghyun has become the royal physician doesn’t mean he’s going to stop being controversial! He causes a stir when he shakes up the royal pharmacy and upsets the herb merchants. But on a happier note, there IS a wedding to prepare for …
So Kwanghyun now has a new title – Royal Physician Baek! (? ?? Baek o-ui) But there are mixed reactions to Kwanghyun’s promotion. Of course his supporters are elated, but not everyone is pleased. The teacher shows his displeasure through word play …He says ???? ???? ?? ?? ??? ??? … Baek Kwanghyun-i o-ui ra-ni ne ga chin-cha o-i ga op-gu-man …
“(the fact that) Baek Kwanghyun is the royal physician, I honestly can’t believe.” (royal physician- o-ui – and ‘unbelievable’ o-i – sound very similar. ??? ?? means unbelievable/amazing) He says this grumpily and means ‘unbelievable’ in a bad way :?
The high officials (including the one who took over from Lord Jung whose title is?? ?? chwa-sang dae-gam) is also against Kwanghyun’s promotion - since Kwanghyun refused to side with him, he doesn’t want him rising to power. They ask the king to change his mind but he REFUSES. So they stage a strike! The king turns up to the daily meeting to find that half of the officials aren’t there! And he is FUMING about this!
In fact Kwanghyun doesn’t actually want the job either! He knows that power is trouble and only wants to be a DOCTOR. But Dr Saam points out that he doesn’t JUST have to be the king’s doctor – he can do other work on the side. So if he wants to help the poor he can do it in his spare time. And he can use his power as the royal physician for good use..
The officials storm off to see the queen mother to complain hoping for her support as usual. She is the only one who can influence the king to change his mind. So is the queen mother going to side with them or Kwanghyun this time? She’s usually strict on “following the rules.”
But the only reason they can give her is that Kwanghyun didn’t pass the state medical exam. The queen mother calls for Kwanghyun to join them in her chambers. And – well, this is a first – she actually supports Kwanghyun! Since he also saved her life and the king’s life she trusts Kwanghun more than any other doctor to look after them. (And about time too!) And she’s realised that you don’t always have to follow the rules! The officials are shocked and stunned. :)
Finally Kwanghyun appears before the hospital staff in his red official robes – he is a yong-gam (see how people at court were addressed during the Joseon period here). But he hasn’t been in the job for five minutes before he starts making unpopular changes. ;) He tells his team that they will not be helping the noblemen from now on – in their spare time they will work at the welfare clinic helping the commoners! And he wants any extra herbs not needed at the royal pharmacy to be shared with the welfare clinic – instead of kept for wealthy private patients …
Kwanghyun wants to start other welfare clinics where treatment is free for the poor. So they must find ways to get cheaper herbs – from herb merchants as well as recruiting locals to find medicinal herbs in the mountains. Of course this upsets the herb merchants and doctors who will lose money and so they try to complain.
Sungha gets ready to leave Joseon to study in Qing. First he visits Jinyung but he doesn’t tell her that he is leaving Joseon. They just chat about old times playing together as kids. Their old home is now a clinic but he’s happy about that. Jinyung doesn’t find out he’s gone until it’s too late – she rushes to the port but (as always) the boat has already left. Kwanghyun is there to comfort her. Sungha has left a present for her – a box of acupuncture needles. (It seems that in Joseon dramas the wealthy characters run off to Qing when they have any kind of trouble. In modern dramas they run off to America!) It feels very final as he leaves on the boat with flashbacks to their lives together growing up. Surely he’ll be back eventually. But in the drama we don’t see Sungha again. Poor Sungha :(
Kwanghyun is so nervous before the wedding that he’s even holding the acupuncture needles upside down (much to the concern of the patient!) Jinyung is embarrassed when the other nurses tell her to get ready for the ‘first night’ ;) Meanwhile, the princess excitedly picks out what dress she should wear for the wedding. She’s so cute. :)
Right before the wedding – they are still working up to the last minute! – Kwanghun bumps into Jinyung. He calls her affectionately?? (bu-in) ‘wife’. And he asks her to call him ‘husband’ ??? (so-bang-nim.) She’s too embarrassed. (even though they’ve been ‘together’ for YEARS!?) In these quiet moments before the wedding he gives her a jade ring and promises that whatever the future brings they will face it together. :) Then we have the wedding ceremony …
Chef Oh asks his boss (Daemang’s mum) to call him?? YOBO – Darling. (OMG this means they must be married! I can’t believe this!) And then we find Kibae on a first date with the old head nurse from the hospital! (I never saw that one coming either.) Dr Saam and Kayong return from Qing once again and there is more romance in the air as Taeju rushes over to carry Kayong’s bag with a huge smile on his face. (Now THEY make a cute couple ;) )
(My prize for the character who has changed the most through this drama goes to Taeju. Remember what he was like at the beginning when they were medical students? He was a serious and rather anal type of character. Kwanghyun on the other hand hasn’t changed at all. And this episode seems to be all about making sure that we know he hasn’t changed – rank and titles haven’t changed him.)
We find Kwanghyun out in the field drinking with labourers and checking their health while he’s at it – He is now a district magistrate in the countryside and is addressed as?? (sado) (BTW He wanted to go – it’s not a demotion ;) ) He’s still upsetting the other officials by behaving inappropriately though, by actually working! And spending time with commoners!
Then he’s called away to deal with an accident. He’s wearing very fancy clothes now – with feathers in his hat – but when a horse is ill he doesn’t think twice about treating the horse too. He never forgets his roots. But not everyone thinks his behaviour is appropriate. One of the officials goes to Jinyung – who now has a child – and asks her to do something about Kwanghun’s behaviour because he shouldn’t be treating ANIMALS. But she simply explains that to Kwanghyun – every life is precious. And he’s doing what makes him happy.
The END
Historical note: The Joseon government divided the country into 8 provinces and 350 counties and prefectures. (the number 350 was chosen so that, in theory, the king would be able to visit every county and prefecture in a year!) A local magistrate was sent to each county or prefecture from the central government to help manage the whole country. This was a new system that was introduced in Joseon after the Goryeo period ended in 1392.
***
So that’s it. That’s the end. What am I going to do now? :(
I think the last episode was in keeping with the whole mood of this drama – quite light and feel good. (OK except for all the blood and sickness and punishments of course) The final episode wasn’t overly sentimental by showing the main characters in very old age. And there were no lose ends – nobody is still living with regret or some other problem. (Although Sungha has unrequited love but we don’t see him and this point is not really made a fuss over)
It was entertaining and there were certainly times when I wanted to throw something through the TV at Myunghwan or Lord Jung ;) for their naughty behaviour! But I think the drama as a whole didn’t feel heavy to me because (unlike Heojun for example) Kwanghyun is not a complicated character. He doesn’t really have any character flaws, angst, or a chip on his shoulder. He’s not a wounded soul. And he hasn’t had to compromise – like marry someone he doesn’t love for the greater good for example. He just has very clear goals in life – to make sure everyone can get medical treatment no matter if they are rich or poor. And of course he wants to marry the woman he loves – Jinyung. And he gets everything he wants, so it’s a very happy ending indeed, isn’t it?
For Kwanghyun and Jinyung it’s a happy ending. But I thought Sungha was the most pitiful character in the whole drama. We don’t even see him return from Qing! Dr Saam and Kayong return and there is love in the air for many of the characters. Very strange couples I thought though … But we have no idea what’s going on with Sungha. I really wanted him to have more of a part later in drama. Surely there could have been a love interest for him – or SOMETHING?? But the princess and Eunso are both widows, so there were no eligible ladies for him. Saying goodbye to Jinyung was really the only sentimental scene in the whole episode- it felt so final as though they weren’t going to see each other again for a very long time. And so I’ll say it again for the millionth and final time: Poor Sungha :(